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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Widespread Abuse by Mortgage Servicers Hurts Homeowners, Investors, Taxpayers, Economy

Widespread Abuse by Mortgage Servicers Hurts Homeowners, Investors, Taxpayers, Economy

Mortgages servicers should be required to give every mortgage holder "a good-faith review of foreclosure alternatives" before taking steps to take his or her home, CRL president Michael Calhoun told Congress today. In testimony before the House Financial Services Committee's Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit and Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, he recommended that servicers be required to...
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Mortgage Lending

Proposed QRM Definition Harms Creditworthy Borrowers While Frustrating Housing Recovery

Proposed QRM Definition Harms Creditworthy Borrowers While Frustrating Housing Recovery

The Coalition for Sensible Housing Policy, including CRL, issued this paper to make the case for sound mortgage lending practices -- but not mandated down payments that would bar responsible home buyers from ownership. Learn about Qualified Residential Mortgage (QRM) proposals.
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Mortgage Lending

Locked Out of a Home: The Impact of a 10% Down Payment Requirement on Prospective Home Buyers

Locked Out of a Home: The Impact of a 10% Down Payment Requirement on Prospective Home Buyers

Federal regulators are proposing to mandate down payment requirements up to 20% on future home loans. Their proposal is part of the proposed standards for defining a " Qualified Residential Mortgage," or QRM. This brief updates and supplements "Don't Mandate Large Down Payments on Home Loans," published by CRL in March 2011. [1] Our analysis shows that a 10% down...
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Mortgage Lending

Oppose H.R. 1121

Oppose H.R. 1121

H.R. 1121 would threaten the ability of the newly-enacted Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to protect consumers from predatory and abusive financial practices. The bill, which would fundamentally change the structure of the CFPB from a single, accountable director to a weak five-person commission, would derail the consumer protections enacted under the Dodd-Frank act (P.L. 111-203). We urge Congress to...
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Mortgage Lending

Oppose S. 737

Oppose S. 737

Replacing CFPB Director with Commission and changing the funding structure would weaken the bureau's accountability and independence. S. 737 would threaten the independence of the newly-enacted Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and would harm the ability of the Bureau to properly protect consumers from predatory and abusive financial practices. The bill, which would remove the independent funding mechanism and fundamentally...
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Mortgage Lending

Banking Regulators Should Withdraw Consent Orders on Illegal Servicing

Banking Regulators Should Withdraw Consent Orders on Illegal Servicing

Ben Bernanke, Chairman Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System John Walsh, Acting Comptroller Office of the Comptroller of the Currency Sheila Bair, Chairman Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation John Bowman, Acting Director Office of Thrift Supervision Re: Withdrawal of Proposed Consent Orders Regarding Mortgage Servicing Illegalities Dear Federal Regulators of the Financial Institutions of the United States: The undersigned...
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Mortgage Lending
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