Mortgage Lending

Home ownership has been the primary means for most American families to build and pass on inter-generational wealth. However, government-sanctioned racial discrimination in housing and mortgage finance markets robbed many families of this opportunity, and today’s racial homeownership gap is barely changed from the levels of more than 50 years ago. Closing the homeownership gap is essential to closing the racial wealth gap.  Additionally, predatory mortgage lending practices drained trillions in wealth from families, especially Black, Latino, low wealth and low-income Americans. CRL successfully advocated for the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which has made the mortgage market far safer for consumers. CRL is building on this progress by working to ensure that all credit-worthy borrowers have access to fair, affordable, and sustainable mortgages. And that policy makers and market participants develop solutions that are appropriate to respond to the scale of this housing crisis. 

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Comment Letter to Senate Banking Committee on Housing Finance Reform Bill

Comment Letter to Senate Banking Committee on Housing Finance Reform Bill

A 13-member coalition of civil rights, housing and legal advocates called upon the U.S. Senate Banking Committee to preserve equal access to mortgage credit for all qualified borrowers. Together the groups stated that a robust housing market must be fair with equal credit terms and effective regulation. They also noted that the nation's demographic shifts will translate into seven out...
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Mortgage Lending

2014 Brings New Rules to Mortgage Lending

2014 Brings New Rules to Mortgage Lending

In 2014, new mortgage lending reforms go into effect. Finalized by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the reforms respond to the abusive lending practices that triggered the nation's financial crisis. The new rules also protect and preserve access to credit. Lenders must now consider whether a borrower has the ability to repay a mortgage. This change means an end to...
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Mortgage Lending

Civil Rights Groups to Federal Regulators: We Support Aligning Mortgage Rules and Oppose Down Payment Requirements

Civil Rights Groups to Federal Regulators: We Support Aligning Mortgage Rules and Oppose Down Payment Requirements

A host of civil rights and fair housing allies joined with CRL in submitting comments to federal financial regulators and HUD. The comments which addressed proposed rules on credit risk retention requirements focus on three key recommendations: •Support for the proposed alignment of mortgage rules to restrict risky loan features; •Protection of access to credit for qualified homebuyers; and •Opposition...
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Mortgage Lending

CRL Testimony to Senate Banking Committee : Preserve What Works, Reform What Needs Change

CRL Testimony to Senate Banking Committee : Preserve What Works, Reform What Needs Change

In this testimony and working paper presented before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, Eric Stein, CRL Senior Vice-President, reminded lawmakers that consumer concerns must not be lost in proposed housing finance reforms. Key recommendations include: Preserving broad consumer access to credit Requiring secondary market entities to serve a national market Converting stock ownership of secondary market...
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Testimony
Mortgage Lending

Fixing What Went Wrong and Building on What Works in Housing Finance

Fixing What Went Wrong and Building on What Works in Housing Finance

A Framework for Housing Finance Reform, CRL's new working paper looks to how what's worked well at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac before conservatorship, can be preserved. Conversely, it also identifies core causes of what went wrong with the two GSEs. The paper's ultimate goal is to bring forth ideas that will provide long-term stability in the marketplace.
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Mortgage Lending

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Offers Four Paths to Qualified Mortgage Status

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Offers Four Paths to Qualified Mortgage Status

In order to create a rule that meets consumer protection goals while also providing flexibility, the CFPB has established four different paths for loans to gain QM status. Each is detailed below: 1. General Definition: The general Qualified Mortgage definition requires eligible loans to not exceed the points and fees threshold, not have negative amortization or interest-only payments, not be...
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Mortgage Lending

Monitor Report: 643,000 Borrowers Received Over $51 billion in Benefits

Monitor Report: 643,000 Borrowers Received Over $51 billion in Benefits

In this analysis of the fifth report by the Monitor of the National Mortgage Settlement, the Center for Responsible Lending concludes that borrowers have benefitted from more transparent oversight of the negotiated servicing practices by participating banks. With more than $51 billion in gross benefits have been provided to 643,000 borrowers, CRL also poses questions on outstanding items.
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Mortgage Lending

2013 Update: The Spillover Effects of Foreclosures

2013 Update: The Spillover Effects of Foreclosures

The financial harm caused by over 12.5 million foreclosures from 2007-2012 is the focus of this brief, the fifth in a series of updated on related findings. Between 2007 and 2012, over 12.5 million homes have gone into foreclosure. These foreclosures directly harm the families that experience them, obviously, and they also have negative effects that extend to the neighborhood...
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Mortgage Lending
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