Problems with rating models that prompted corrections on more than 650 residential MBS in recent years helped lead to a settlement between Moody’s Investors Service and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Any changes to the Community Reinvestment Act should strengthen – not weaken – banks’ obligations to meet the needs of minority and low-income communities and expand access to mortgage credit in historically redlined areas, said civil rights and consumer advocacy groups.
Industry participants and the Treasury Department want the Federal Communications Commission to change its rules to help servicers communicate with borrowers without the threat of costly fines.
One housing lobbyist dismissed the bill as misguided, adding: “This is like someone laying on their death bed after drinking and sinning and finally realizing they need to get baptized.”
The Urban Institute advocates dropping the debt-to-income cap for qualified mortgages to level the playing field between the government-sponsored enterprises and the private market.
Two federal government agencies have reopened the debate over the use of a disparate-impact analysis to show discrimination against protected classes. It’s unclear how much the agencies can do in reworking their regulations, or how aggressive they will be in taking up cases based on the theory.
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