CRL Senior Vice President Eric Stein emphasized the importance of defining "Qualified Mortgage" broadly to avoid shutting out creditworthy borrowers from the mortgage market. He recommended that QM include the use of specific "bright-line" standards so that lenders and borrowers are clear on which loans qualify as QMs. He also made the case for allowing borrowers to pursue legal action if an alleged QM loan failed to meet the appropriate standards from the outset. This testimony was presented before the House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services - Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit.

The Center for Responsible Lending, Consumer Federation of America and The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights responded to the CFPB's request for comments on qualified mortgages. Much of the comment letter focuses on an appropriate "bright line" debt-to-income ratio standard for QMs. Setting a narrow debt-to-income ratio for QMs would unnecessarily exclude a large share of borrowers from QM protections. This letter supports setting a baseline debt-to-income ratio on QMs while also giving lenders flexibility to go above it by considering other "compensating factors" that affect a borrower's ability to handle a loan successfully.

The Boxer-Menendez bill to expand refinances offers a bipartisan opportunity to help homeowners and boost the economy. The bill would more than double the number of homeowners who could refinance under the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) and also more than double their savings, according to research by the Columbia University Business School.

CRL President Michael Calhoun testifies before a House Financial Services subcommittee on the benefits of strong lending protections. Financial reform, including the CFPB, is good for American families as well as bank safety and soundness.

Interest rates are at historic lows, but many homeowners who could benefit from these low rates have not refinanced their higher-rate mortgage. In this testimony, CRL President Michael Calhoun recommends expanding the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) to prevent unnecessary foreclosures and boost economic recovery.

Forty-nine state attorneys generals and two government agencies have reached a $25 billion agreement with the nation's five largest mortgage servicers to address mortgage loan servicing and foreclosure abuses. Here we provide a quick-reference summary of the terms of this agreement.

A lawsuit highlights possible foreclosure fraud, as loan servicing employees admit they don’t actually review foreclosure documents; instead they do "robo-signing.

FHFA has the mandate and the opportunity to improve mortgage servicing practices. CRL recommends incentives to encourage better service by loan servicers and to promote more timely and effective loss mitigation, free of abusive and unfair practices.

This policy brief is a companion piece to CRL's foreclosure research, "Lost Ground, 2011." Here we discuss practical policies that would help stop the foreclosure epidemic and restore confidence in the housing market.

CRL filed an amicus brief to the New Jersey Supreme Court, advocating for strict compliance with New Jersey’s Fair Foreclosure Act and the federal Truth in Lending Act’s intentional reordering of the common law rescission process to effectuate Congress’s intent that rescission under TILA be a practical tool to save homes from foreclosure. Both statutes play a critical role in preserving homeownership in the face of foreclosure.