Washington, D.C. — This week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed two bills weakening the financial reforms that Congress put in place after the housing crisis. H.R. 650, the Preserving Access to Manufactured Housing Act of 2015, strips critical lending protections for buyers of manufactured homes, and H.R. 685, the Mortgage Choice Act of 2015, removes disincentives that discourage lenders from upselling consumers on title insurance policies offered through affiliated companies. Julia Gordon, Senior Director of Housing and Consumer Finance at the Center for American Progress, issued the following statement:
By gutting important protections contained in the Dodd-Frank Act, House Republicans seem intent on turning back the clock to the height of the housing crisis, when predatory lending was the norm. These bills would do serious harm to the mortgage market by opening the door to the type of high-cost and unsustainable lending that caused the foreclosure crisis—without doing anything to increase access to high-quality mortgage credit. Congress should work to increase access to credit in ways that benefit both consumers and lenders.
For more information or to speak with an expert, contact Allison Preiss at [email protected] or 202.478.6331.
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