Policy & Legislation
HIGHLIGHT
During the years that led up to the subprime mortgage crisis, Congress was notably passive in dealing with the proliferation of abuses that flourished in a reckless lending environment. The foreclosure crisis that triggered today’s economic problems underscores the need for sensible regulations and protections. Today there are many reforms being weighed and balanced in Washington and in the states. Here we help you keep abreast of proposed policies and their pros and cons.
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- Oversight of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act: Examining Financial Institution Use of Funding Under the Capital Purchase Program
November 13, 2008Urges effective policies to maximize number of families who stay in their homes. Urges Treasury and Congress to support loan modifications
- Banks cannot foreclose in New York when evidence shows they didn't own the loan
October 31, 2008CRL's brief on behalf of the appellee in HSBC Bank, USA v. Dammond. CRL represents a New York homeowner who sought relief from a foreclosure judgment because the mortgage assignment filed by the bank showed it lacked standing at the time it filed the foreclosure action in this appeal in the New York Supreme Court Appellate Division, Second Department. The trial court granted the relief.
- Briefing on the Mortgage Crisis and Its Impact on the Economy
October 22, 2008Ellen Harnick advocates for court-supervised loan modifications through the bankruptcy courts
- Government Did Not Require Reckless Lending
October 22, 2008Contains list of sources that discuss how Wall Street initiated most of the reckless lending and Washington failed to stop them
- Turmoil in the U.S. Credit Markets: The Genesis of the Current Economic Crisis
October 16, 2008Urges effective policies to maximize number of families who stay in their homes. Urges Treasury and Congress to support loan modifications
- CRA is not to Blame for the Mortgage Meltdown
October 3, 2008CRA has not forced lenders to make risky loans to low and moderate families and to communities of color. CRA has led to affordable, sustainable loans in underserved communities.
- Bailout: Government's Power to Modify Loans Limited
September 24, 2008MBS holders have no right to control how the trust manages mortgages, limiting Government's power to modify loans
- The Problem with the Paulson Bailout Plan
September 23, 2008Appeal to consumers to urge Congress to support judicial loan modifications
- Lenders cannot make loans in Massachusetts that will default without home value appreciation
September 22, 2008CRL's amicus brief in support of the Massachusetts Attorney General in Commonwealth v. Fremont Investment & Loan. CRL, along with a number of other consumer groups, argues in favor of affirming the trial court's injunction of foreclosures by Fremont on loans with a set of characteristics (including "teaser rates" and prepayment penalties) that were unsustainable over the long-term without continued refinancings dependant on continued increases in property values in this appeal before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. The brief explains the dangers created by each of the problematic loan features identified by the trial court. The Supreme Judicial Court in December 2008 ruled in favor of the Attorney General in an opinion found at 897 N.E.2d 548.
- Judicial Modification of Loans Would Save 600,000 Homes: Purchase of Securities Will Save None
September 20, 2008Simply owning securities gives the government no right greater than they currently hold to help borrowers stay in their homes.
