My Financial Healthcheck

This past week, the Hose of Representatives passed the H.R. 1728, the Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act of 2009 and sent it the the Senate for consideration. The bill is a tougher version of a measure to overhaul mortgage regulations that House Financial Services Committee pushed in the previous Congress.

The sponsor of the bill was that committees Chairman Barney Frank, who I guess figures that he might screw up the mortgage industry even more than what he and others did to get the industry in the mess it’s in now.

One part of the bill could hurt those trying to get a mortgage and were offered a zero cost refinance trans-action in the past.  The bill could hurt competition and force many private mortgage banks out of business due to restrictions that could affect their warehouse lines of credit.  What the bill would do is force consumers to pay more points when getting a mortgage loan versus a typical zero point transaction. If the law passes the mortgage industry won’t be the same at a time when it’s a shell of what is was a couple years back.  Any law that is passed should improve regulations by providing a path to restore investor and consumer confidence in the nation’s lending and financial markets and assure the availability and affordability of mortgage credit for the future.  If regulatory solutions are not well conceived, the risk is to exacerbate the current credit crisis.

Contact your U.S. Senator and express your opinions, tell them not to make the mortgage lending process anymore difficult than it already is. Anyone who has tried to get a mortgage in the past year or so knows none of the old rules apply and only a small percentage get the best rates now. Tell Washington not to make it any more difficult than it already is.