11/9/07 NAMB Legislative Alert On HR 3915

LEGISLATIVE ALERT
From NAMB Government Affairs

On Tuesday, the House Financial Services Committee (“HFSC”) debated, marked-up, and voted 45-19 to approve the Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act of 2007 (“HR 3915”).  This vote clears the way for HR 3915 to move to the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives for further debate and a vote of the full House, which is expected to occur as early as next week.

The amended version of HR 3915 retains provisions calling for a national registry for all mortgage originators, including a registry for federal bank loan officers, and strengthening professional standards for those originators operating under state licensing regimes.  Removed from the bill are the unduly burdensome net worth and surety bond requirements originally included, leaving it to the states to individually determine appropriate bonding requirements for mortgage originators.

Additionally, Rep. Gary Miller (R-CA) offered an amendment aimed at clarifying the anti-steering provision in the bill, which affects consumers’ ability to finance origination costs and fees into the interest rate or loan amount.  After a discussion about the need to modify the anti-steering provision to address our many concerns with it, HFSC Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA) committed to working with Rep. Miller on the language of the provision before the bill goes to the House floor.

NAMB continues to work closely with Chairman Frank and HFSC committee staff on addressing our concerns and making improvements to HR 3915.  NAMB has also been working closely with the California Association of Mortgage Brokers (“CAMB”) to maintain an open dialogue with Rep. Miller and other leaders in the House of Representatives regarding HR 3915.  We will continue to negotiate and deliberate on our principal concerns with HR 3915 until they have been fully addressed. of the HFSC prior to Tuesday’s mark-up.