Lenders to Battle Proposed Mortgage Reforms in the Senate

Chicago Daily Herald
December 18, 2009
Harney, Ken

Consumer advocates support the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act passed by the House on Dec. 11 because it establishes a Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA), which would oversee the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and fair lending programs; monitor real estate settlement practices; identify discriminatory practices in mortgage pricing, underwriting, and marketing; and regulate mortgages, home equity lines of credit, and other financial products. The CFPA would simplify loan disclosures, pay close attention to mortgages with teaser rates and other high-risk features, and protect consumers from predatory lending practices. Consumer Federation of America legislative director Travis Plunkett says regulations limiting high-risk mortgages could have been established prior to the recent crisis had such an agency been in place earlier in the decade. The bill's future remains uncertain, as industry lobbyists hope to kill the bill in the Senate or at least scale it back.

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