Subprime Borrowers and Foreclosures Focus of Senate Banking Committee

(EMAILWIRE.COM, April 25, 2007 ) WASHINGTON – Foreclosure activity and subprime mortgage borrowers are very connected in today’s residential real estate market in the United States, and members of the Senate are creating legislation to help troubled homeowners. Senate Democrats urged the Federal Reserve Board on Monday to help future borrowers by restricting some types of loan products and to tighten standards that apply to mortgage lenders.Not all mortgage lenders are banks that operate under Federal Law guidelines, and many operate solely under the control of the laws of individual states. Senators on the Senate Banking Committee, such as Chairman and presidential hopeful Christopher Dodd (D) of Connecticut, are focused on ways to protect consumers from abusive lending practices.One specific requirement that Senator Dodd would impose on mortgage originators is that they consider how a borrower will be able to pay back a mortgage loan even if the payments are much lower initially. What this means is that lenders should not just look to a borrower’s ability to make payments during the initial low interest-only ‘teaser’ rate period, but rather when the loans ‘readjust’ to higher rates that begin to pay down principal. Many of these borrowers used low-documentation or no-documentation mortgages, and this practice is also being scrutinized.“Analyzing a borrower’s ability to pay the eventually higher payments on a mortgage just seems like a commonsense idea that should be standard practice, but common sense isn’t always so common, especially when politics are involved,” commented Patrick McGilvray, J.D., CFP® - President of http://www.TheHomeBuyingCenter.com. Senator Dodd and his fellow senators wrote, “Quick action on these items by the Federal Reserve Board under its [legal] authority would be extremely helpful in extending important consumer protections to homeowners and buyers.” The letter to Chairman Ben Bernanke also said that the Federal Reserve has not lived up to its responsibilities as defined in the Home Ownership and Equity Prevention Act of 1994 to prevent predatory lending activities.Dodd also stressed that it was important for the federal government to act in a way to protect borrowers and homeowners from bank lenders and non-bank lenders as well.Contact:TheHomeBuyingCenter.comPatrick McGilvray, J.D.Tel: 916-920-3278###This press release was issued through GroupWeb EmailWire.Com. For more information on unlimited press release distribution, go to http://www.emailwire.com.

Patrick McGilvray, J.D.
Patrick McGilvray, J.D.

patrick@thehomebuyingcenter.com