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Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act of 2007

Date: Nov. 15, 2007
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Housing and Property


MORTGAGE REFORM AND ANTI-PREDATORY LENDING ACT OF 2007 -- (House of Representatives - November 15, 2007)

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Mr. BACA. Mr. Chairman, I stand in support of this amendment and also rise in support of H.R. 3515. I want to thank Chairman Frank for his leadership.

The headline from yesterday's San Bernardino Sun, my local paper, read ``Area Number 3 in Nation in Foreclosures.''

Right now, one in 43 houses in San Bernardino and Riverside Counties are undergoing foreclosure. Our families are being torn apart by this crisis. The American Dream of homeownership has become a nightmare for them.

I had a town hall meeting in my district on foreclosures last weekend. I am glad that I did because we were able to assist a lot of families. These families are scared and need help. They feel hopeless, unless Congress addresses this issue.

Our families said that the teaser rate was resetting to a payment that was more than half of their income. Another said they had to take a second job just to afford the new payments after the rates were adjusted. It was clear that these families were steered into loans that they could not afford.

On the other hand, other constituents told me that the interest rate they received on the loans was higher than what they were told that they would receive. Too many consumers are victims of this type of predatory bait-and-switch practice.

This bill includes an amendment which I offered which requires additional disclosures to provide consumers information before signing. This will help put an end to the abusive practice and ensure that consumers have accurate information about the cost of their loan so that they know what they are buying.

H.R. 3915 will help put an end to predatory lending once and for all. And it prohibits prepayment penalties, outlaws discriminatory steering practices and bans yield spread premiums. It also includes stronger underwriting standards to help stop predatory lenders in their tracks.

I ask my colleagues to support H.R. 3915 and support this amendment.

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