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. 

Filter Results

Fix or Evict? Loan Modifications Return More Value Than Foreclosures

Fix or Evict? Loan Modifications Return More Value Than Foreclosures

Banks' Foreclosure Bias Hurts Investors CRL's report—"Fix or Evict? Loan Modifications Return More Value Than Foreclosures"—shows that banks routinely choose foreclosure over modifying mortgages, even when fixing the loan would be better for loan investors. This bias to foreclose drains investments, including pension funds for retirement, and slows economic recovery. Download PDF of complete report here. What do investors think...
More
Research
Mortgage Lending

Joint Letter to Regulators Against High-Downpayment Requirements

Joint Letter to Regulators Against High-Downpayment Requirements

CRL, the National Association of Realtors, the National Association of Homebuilders, and the Consumer Federation of America sent a joint letter to federal regulators, urging them to avoid arbitrary high down payment requirements on mortgage loans. We argue that this would make buying a home more costly, lock out many first-time homebuyers, and short-circuit a recovery of the housing market...
More
Research
Mortgage Lending

Don't Mandate Large Down Payments on Home Loans

Don't Mandate Large Down Payments on Home Loans

Recent proposals call for requiring prospective homeowners to make a 10-20 percent down payment when purchasing a home. This is seen--mistakenly--as "getting back to the way mortgages used to be made." In fact, low down payment home loans [i] have been a significant and safe part of the mortgage finance system for decades, bearing little resemblance to subprime and other...
More
Research
Mortgage Lending

Wall Street, Not Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Led the Toxic Mortgage Market

Wall Street, Not Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Led the Toxic Mortgage Market

Download our complete hill brief Wall Street Led the Toxic Market 5 Facts You Should Know About Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Additional Resources on the GSEs' Role in the Financial Crisis " Fannie, Freddie and the Foreclosure Crisis" – Center for Community Capital " Faulty Conclusions Based on Shoddy Foundations" – Center for American Progress Fact: The GSEs were...
More
Research
Mortgage Lending

Joint Letter to Regulators on Elements of "Qualified Residential Mortgages"

Joint Letter to Regulators on Elements of "Qualified Residential Mortgages"

In this letter to federal regulators, CRL and other national civil rights, labor and consumer organizations share their views on the regulation of securitizers of residential mortgage loans - specifically "qualified residential mortgages" or QRMs. The two points made by the letter: 1. Securitized loans should meet basic servicing standards to prevent unnecessary foreclosures 2. QRM standards should not include...
More
Comment Letter
Mortgage Lending

Comments to the Federal Reserve Board on Proposed Regulations Under the Truth in Lending Act [Regulation Z; Docket No. R-1390]

Comments to the Federal Reserve Board on Proposed Regulations Under the Truth in Lending Act [Regulation Z; Docket No. R-1390]

The National Consumer Law Center ("NCLC") respectfully submits the following comments on behalf of its low income clients, as well as Americans for Financial Reform, California Reinvestment Coalition, the Center for Responsible Lending, Consumer Action, Consumers Union, National Association of Consumer Advocates, National Community Reinvestment Coalition, National Fair Housing Alliance and the Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy Project, regarding the Federal...
More
Comment Letter
Mortgage Lending

Implementing Mortgage Rules for Financial Reform: Recommendations for Defining "Qualified Residential Mortgages" and Formulating Lending and Servicing Standards

Implementing Mortgage Rules for Financial Reform: Recommendations for Defining "Qualified Residential Mortgages" and Formulating Lending and Servicing Standards

CRL and allies recommend that regulators include servicing standards when implementing financial reform. This letter also includes specific recommendations for defining a "qualified residential mortgage" that encourages sustainable home loans.
More
Research
Mortgage Lending

Summary of Key Provisions (Mortgage Originations) in Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act

Summary of Key Provisions (Mortgage Originations) in Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act

Detailed summary of provisions in Title XIV: "Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act" Subtitles A-C: Mortgage Originations Contents: Timeline Key Definitions & Concepts "Qualified mortgage" "Residential mortgage loan" "Mortgage originator" Origination standards – originators (Subtitle A) Duty of care Originator compensation (including yield spread premiums) Steering Origination standards – loans (Subtitle B) Ability to Repay Prepayment penalties Other minimum standards...
More
Research
Mortgage Lending
Displaying 221 - 230 of 463