Congress Eyes CU Model for Predatory Loan Bill

WASHINGTON – Passage of a tough new anti-predatory mortgage bill is expected to be one of the first items of business for the House Financial Institutions Committee in the next Congress. “Getting a good predatory loan bill will be a top priority,” Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank, expected to be the next chairman of the committee, told the Consumer Federation of America yesterday. The bill is being drafted by North Carolina Congressman Brad Miller and is being modeled after that state’s predatory loan law that was drafted, in part, by Self Help CU’s Center for Responsive Lending, and State Employees CU. That law bars a number of practices considered predatory, like ‘flipping,’ upfront payment of single premium insurance, and sets limits on a variety of fees typically charged for subprime mortgages. Frank said two other top priorities will be passage of a data security bill addressing the growing number of data breaches; and the increasing use of federal preemption in banking where federal agencies, including NCUA, have been exempting federally chartered institutions from state laws, such as the anti-predatory measures.