Source:
ReutersLawmakers, FDIC seek predatory lending crackdownBy Kevin Drawbaugh
Reuters
Tuesday, March 27, 2007; 2:59 PM
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A top U.S. bank regulator and lawmakers
in Congress from both parties called for a national crackdown
on predatory lending, a main cause of the crisis in the subprime
mortgage market.
"The time has come for national anti-predatory lending standards
applicable to all mortgage lenders," Federal Deposit Insurance
Corp. Chairman Sheila Bair told a House of Representatives
subcommittee in a hearing on Tuesday.
Bair said Congress could require that mortgage lenders must take
into account a borrower's ability to repay a loan at its true cost,
not based only on initial, low payments, while also moving against
confusing and misleading mortgage marketing.
She also suggested possible restrictions on loan flipping, prepayment
penalties, escrow of taxes and insurance and the fiduciary obligations
of mortgage brokers.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/27/AR2007032701181.html