Throughout
his tenure as a member of the House Financial Services Committee and now as the
leader of the Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance and Government
Sponsored Enterprises, Congressman Kanjorski has acted to resolve many economic
problems, including the difficulties now directly affecting many homeowners. The Congressman understands that owning a
home is the most significant and complex investment that most people will ever
make. He wants to ensure that homebuyers
are treated honestly and that they get the best possible mortgage based on
their circumstances.
As
early as 1993, Congressman Kanjorski helped to introduce a bill, which became
law in 1994, establishing national standards to protect borrowers against the predatory
lending practices of those who try to deceive homebuyers. The Congressman then joined with his
Democratic colleagues in 2000 to propose a bill to establish more protections
against predatory lending and raise penalties and fines for violations of the
law.
The
dramatic rise in foreclosures in the Poconos earlier in the decade led to
further action by Congressman Kanjorski.
At the Congressman's request, the Financial Services Committee held a
field hearing at East Stroudsburg University
in 2004 which brought national attention to the housing problems in Monroe County.
Also at the Congressman's insistence,
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac worked to review the problematic loans with their
lenders and ultimately 300 people who purchased homes at inflated prices were offered
the chance to have their loans written down by as much as $60,000.
Experts
generally agree that the current problems with subprime lending grew
significantly in early 2006 and continued into the first half of 2007. Congressman Kanjorski, however, acted before
these problems began nationally by developing tough, bipartisan legislation
aimed at protecting mortgage borrowers from abusive and deceptive lending
practices. Specifically, Congressman
Kanjorski worked to draft and introduce H.R. 1295, the Responsible Lending Act,
in early 2005.
H.R.
1295 would have strengthened underwriting standards, improved housing
counseling assistance, ensured fair appraisals, bettered mortgage servicing,
and put in place a broker licensing and oversight system. These five reforms would have helped many
American homeowners to avoid their current problems, and even foreclosures. While this bill did not become law in the 109th
Congress, it had wide bipartisan support.
In
the 110th Congress, Congressman Kanjorski continues to fight to
protect borrowers against predatory lending.
The Congressman's leadership on these issues has significantly shaped
the content of a major bill recently passed by the House. In November 2007, the House approved H.R.
3915, the Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act. Currently pending in the Senate, the
House-passed bill contained each of the five key elements that Congressman
Kanjorski previously identified as necessary for effectively halting predatory
lending practices. Additionally,
legislation on fair appraisal practices, appropriate mortgage servicing policies,
and mortgage loan modification practices drafted by Congressman Kanjorski has
passed the House in recent months.
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