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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Increase Statutory Homestead Exemption (HB 1058)

Full Session Law This act, which became effective October 1, 2009, increased the amount of home equity protected against creditors. This "homestead exemption" was raised from $18,500 to $35,000 per individual. Since the exempted amount is per individual, $70,000 is protected for a married couple. For homeowners aged 65 or older who previously owned the home with their deceased spouse...

Fair Housing Act Amendment (SB 465)

Full Session Law This bill clarified what constitutes a violation of reasonable accommodation requirements under the Fair Housing Act. While the required accommodations are not new, the modified structure of the bill clarifies that discriminatory intent is not required to establish unlawful housing discrimination. The amendment went into effect on October 1, 2009. The following are accommodations are required, under...

Abolish Certain Deficiency Judgments (HB 1057)

Full Session Law This act, which became effective October 1, 2009, prohibits deficiency judgments on predatory home loans in North Carolina. A deficiency judgment is a lender's way of recovering the balance owed on a loan in the event that the proceeds of a foreclosure sale do not fully cover the amount owed. Under this law, deficiency judgments are restricted...

HB 1222 Rate-Spread and High-Cost Loans

Full Session Law This bill made technical and clarifying changes to anti-predatory lending laws for high-cost and rate-spread mortgages. The law became effective October 1, 2009. High-Cost Loans For high-cost loans, the bill clarified the definition of points and fees to include costs paid by the borrower "at or before closing". Rate-Spread Loans After the updates made through this bill...

SB 974 Consumer Economic Protection Act of 2009

SB 974, SB 974, which had the strong support of Attorney General Roy Cooper, includes important new consumer protections in two distinct areas: Greater protections for homeowners during the foreclosure process; and greater protections for consumers against abusive debt buying activities. Foreclosure protections: This new law allows a clerk of court to continue (delay) a foreclosure hearing for up to...

Research Comment: On “Liar’s Loan? Effects of Origination Channel and Information Falsification on Mortgage Delinquency”

By Debbie Gruenstein Bocian and Keith S. Ernst A working paper recently released by the Columbia Business School, "Liar's Loan? Effects of Origination Channel and Information Falsification on Mortgage Delinquency" [1] reported three main findings: (1) mortgages originated through brokers are more likely to become delinquent than similar mortgages made through retail channels; (2) mortgages with low levels of income...

SB 810 Non-Discrimination Against Affordable Housing Developments

Full Session Law This legislation makes it unlawful for a local government to discriminate against affordable housing in its land use or permitting decisions, whether through action or inaction. Either the intent or effect of discriminating against housing developments with units for those with less than 80% of the area median income is a violation of the law. However, it...

At A Glance: Top Policies for Addressing the Foreclosure Crisis

Solutions exist. Here's a quick reference to CRL's top four policies for stopping the foreclosure epidemic: 1. Establish an independent agency dedicated to protecting consumers against bad lending practices 2. Make voluntary foreclosure prevention programs more effective and reach all those who qualify 3. Allow qualified homeowners to restructure mortgages under court supervision 4. Prevent predatory and reckless lending in...

HB 1523 S.A.F.E. Mortgage Licensing Act

HB 1523, with the strong support of the NC Commissioner of Banks, rewrote the current NC Mortgage Lending Act (MLA) to conform to standards required under new Federal legislation. Though the bulk of the Act stays the same, some new protections were added, including: Increases the bond required for mortgage brokers from $50,000 for all brokers to a sliding scale...
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