[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 127 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 127

           Supporting home ownership and responsible lending.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 24, 2007

 Mr. Cummings submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was 
            referred to the Committee on Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
           Supporting home ownership and responsible lending.

Whereas home ownership is an essential part of realizing the American Dream;
Whereas home ownership is a powerful economic stimulus, both for individual 
        homeowners and for the national economy;
Whereas home ownership also benefits neighborhoods by raising property values 
        and by providing economic and social capital in previously distressed 
        communities;
Whereas in 2006, more than 75,000,000 Americans owned homes, and the home 
        ownership rate was nearly 69 percent, a near record high;
Whereas the home ownership rate for non-Hispanic whites in 2006 was 76 percent, 
        while the rate for African American households was only 48.2 percent; 
        Hispanic households were at 49.5 percent, and Asian, Native Americans, 
        and Pacific Islanders were at 60 percent;
Whereas this Nation experienced a housing boom from 2001 to 2006, due to 
        historically low mortgage rates, rising home prices, and increased 
        liquidity in the secondary mortgage market, all factors that led to the 
        growth of the sub-prime mortgage industry;
Whereas the sub-prime market has created opportunities for ``predatory'' lending 
        in which unscrupulous lenders have hidden the true cost of sub-prime 
        loans from unsophisticated borrowers;
Whereas during the past few months, it has become increasingly clear that 
        irresponsible sub-prime lending practices are contributing to a wave of 
        foreclosures that are harming homeowners and rattling the housing 
        markets;
Whereas an estimated 1 in 5 sub-prime loans issued in 2005 and 2006 will go into 
        default, costing 2,200,000 home owners their homes over the next several 
        years;
Whereas sub-prime mortgage loans are most prevalent in lower-income 
        neighborhoods with high concentrations of minorities (in 2005, 53 
        percent of African American and 37.8 percent of Hispanic borrowers took 
        out sub-prime loans), and more minorities are being steered into the 
        higher-rate, sub-prime loan market than are white borrowers with the 
        same qualifications;
Whereas foreclosures are also costly from a legal and administrative standpoint, 
        with the average foreclosure costing the borrower $7,200 in 
        administrative charges;
Whereas lenders do not typically benefit from taking over a delinquent owner's 
        property, losing as much as $50,000 per foreclosure;
Whereas foreclosures can also be very costly for local governments because 
        abandoned homes cost districts tax revenue;
Whereas a recent study calculated that a single-family home foreclosure lowers 
        the value of homes located within one-eighth of a mile (or one city 
        block) by an average of 0.9 percent and even more so (1.4 percent) in 
        low to moderate-income communities; and
Whereas the time has come to raise awareness about the dangers of sub-prime 
        loans and to protect homeowners from unscrupulous lending practices: 
        Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring),  
That--
            (1) it is the sense of the Congress that legislation should 
        be enacted that protects buyers who have been victims of 
        unscrupulous mortgage brokers and lenders; and
            (2) specifically, such legislation should--
                    (A) include an anti-predatory lending provision 
                that bans unfair and deceptive practices;
                    (B) require lenders to evaluate a borrower's 
                ability to pay over the life of the loan (at the fully 
                indexed rate for the fully amortized amount);
                    (C) establish Federal regulations regarding 
                licensing, education, and experience requirements for 
                mortgage brokers and loan officers in non-bank 
                companies;
                    (D) require that disclosures be written in plain 
                language and prominently displayed in a manner that is 
                visually clear and effectively communicates the 
                intended information to the potential borrower;
                    (E) reduce or eliminate prepayment penalties;
                    (F) notify potential home buyers of lenders or 
                brokers with high foreclosure rates; and
                    (G) mandate pre-loan counseling.
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