HUD-Treasury Report Recommendations
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CHAPTER I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1 CHAPTER II. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND 12 A. THE HUD-TREASURY TASK FORCE 12 B. OTHER FEDERAL, STATE AND LOCAL EFFORTS 13 CHAPTER III. SUMMARY OF THE PROBLEM 16 A. WHAT IS PREDATORY LENDING? 16 B. THE EFFECTS OF PREDATORY LENDING 23 CHAPTER IV. BACKGROUND ON THE SUBPRIME MORTGAGE MARKET 25 A. THE ROLE OF SUBPRIME MORTGAGE LENDING 25 B. GROWTH AND CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SUBPRIME MARKET 27 1. The Growth of the Subprime Market 27 2. Subprime Mortgages and How They Are 29 3 . Subprime Mortgage Lending,Consumer Debt and Bankruptcy 30 4. Characteristics of Subprime Borrowers 32 a. Credit Characteristics 32 b. Delinquency and Foreclosure Characteristics 33 c. Borrower Demographics 34 C. OVERVIEW OF THE SUBPRIME LENDING PIPELINE: FROM BORROWERS TO INVESTORS 36 1. Borrower Entry into the Lending Pipeline 37 2. Sources of Funds 39 3. Securitization Increases Wall Street’s Participation in the Lending Pipeline 40 4. Changing Industry Fortunes in the Latter 1990s 41 5. New Entrants in the Subprime Market 43 D. SUBPRIME LENDING AND LOW-INCOME AND MINORITY NEIGHBORHOODS 45 1. Subprime Concentration in Low-Income and Minority Neighborhoods 45 2. The Effects of Foreclosure on Low-Income and Minority Neighborhoods 47 E. CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS 49 CHAPTER V. CURRENT LEGAL CONTEXT 51 A. HOME OWNERSHIP AND EQUITY PROTECTION ACT (HOEPA) 52 B. TRUTH IN LENDING ACT (TILA) 53 C. REAL ESTATE SETTLEMENT PROCEDURES ACT (RESPA) 53 CHAPTER VI. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR REFORM 55 A. CONSUMER LITERACY AND DISCLOSURE 56 1. Need for Greater Financial Literacy 56 2. Need for Housing Counseling 57 3. Improving Disclosures 60 B. HARMFUL SALES PRACTICES 69 1. Targeting Minority, Female, Elderly and Low-Income Borrowers 69 2. Loan “flipping” 71 3. Lending to Borrowers without the Ability to Repay 73 4. Mortgage Broker, Home Improvement Contractor and Appraiser Misconduct 76 5. Lenders’ Incomplete Reporting to Report to Credit Bureaus 81 C. ABUSIVE OR DECEPTIVE TERMS AND CONDITIONS 81 1. Limited set of borrowers benefit from HOEPA’s protections 81 2. Credit Insurance and Other Insurance Products Paid in a Single Premium 86 3. Negative Amortization 88 4. Prepayment Penalties 89 i 5. Balloon Payments 92 6. Mandatory Arbitration 95 7. Financing of points and fees 96 D. MARKET STRUCTURE 96 1. Inadequate Data Collection 96 2. The Prime Market 100 3. The Secondary Market 104 E. OTHER ISSUES 106 1. Foreclosure Prevention 106 F. ACTIONS THAT THE FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD SHOULD TAKE TO CURB ABUSIVE LENDING PRACTICES 107 VII. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR APPROPRIATIONS 109 VIII. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FHA AND OTHER POLICY INITIATIVES 110 A. NEW INITIATIVES FROM THE BALTIMORE TASK FORCE 110 1. Helping Victims Avoid Foreclosure and Retain Their Homes 111 2. Protecting FHA Homeowners From Predatory Lending 112 B. NEW INITIATIVES FROM THE PUBLIC FORUMS 114 1. Housing Counseling 114 2. Cooperative Initiatives with Industry 114 ii Chapter I. Executive Summary In April, the home ownership rate reached a record high with 67.1% of American families owning their own homes. A total of 70.7 million American families owned their homes in the first quarter of the year – more than at any time in American history. Despite these gains, too many low- and moderate-income families have seen the dream of home ownership become a nightmare because of predatory or abusive lending practices. These practices are concentrated in the subprime mortgage market, where record numbers of Americans are refinancing their homes for consumer credit purposes. Subprime lending serves an important role, by providing loans to borrowers who do not meet the credit standards for the prime mortgage market. Some borrowers in the subprime market, however, may be particularly vulnerable to abusive lending practices. This report details the recommendations of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Department of Treasury for legislative and regulatory action to combat predatory lending, while maintaining access to credit for low- and moderate-income borrowers. In addition, the report describes regulatory and policy changes that HUD is implementing to combat predatory lending. The recommendations contained in this report are based, in significant part, on information gathered by the HUD-Treasury National Predatory Lending Task Force. Secretary Cuomo announced the Task Force in March 2000, in response to inquiries made by Senator Mikulski in the context of a VA/HUD Appropriations Subcommittee hearing. Secretary Cuomo and Secretary Summers jointly convened the Task Force in April 2000. The Task Force drew its members from a wide range of parties interested in and affected by predatory lending, including consumer advocacy groups; industry trade associations representing mortgage lenders, brokers, and appraisers; local and state officials; and academics. Task Force members collected information about predatory lending and provided testimony on the effects of predatory practices through a process that included field forums held in Atlanta, Los Angeles, New York, Baltimore and Chicago. What is Predatory Lending? Although home mortgage lending is regulated by state and federal authorities, none of the statues and regulations governing mortgage transactions provides a definition of predatory lending. Predatory lending -- whether undertaken by creditors, brokers, or even home improvement contractors -- involves engaging in deception or fraud, manipulating the borrower through aggressive sales tactics, or taking unfair advantage of a borrower’s lack of understanding about loan terms. These practices are often combined with loan terms that, alone or in combination, are abusive or make the borrower more vulnerable to abusive practices. Predatory lending generally occurs in the subprime mortgage market, where most borrowers use the collateral in their homes for debt consolidation or other consumer credit purposes. Most 1 borrowers in this market have limited access to the mainstream financial sector, yet some would likely qualify for prime loans. While predatory lending can occur in the prime market, it is ordinarily deterred in that market by competition among lenders, greater homogeneity in loan terms and greater financial information among borrowers. In addition, most prime lenders are banks, thrifts, or credit unions, which are subject to extensive federal and state oversight and supervision, unlike most subprime lenders. Throughout the HUD-Treasury forums, there was substantial evidence of too-frequent abuses in the subprime lending market. These abuses tended to fall into four main categories: Loan Flipping – Some mortgage originators refinanced borrowers’ loans repeatedly in a short period of time. With each successive refinancing, these originators charged high fees, including sometimes prepayment penalties, that stripped borrowers’ equity in their homes. Excessive fees and “packing” – While subprime lending involves higher costs to the lender than prime lending, in many instances the Task Force saw evidence of fees that far exceeded what would be expected or justified based on economic grounds, and fees that were “packed” into the loan amount without the borrower’s understanding. Lending without regard to the borrower’s ability to repay – One troubling practice involved lending based on borrowers’ equity in their homes, where the borrowers clearly did not have the capacity to repay the loans. In particularly egregious cases, elderly people living on fixed incomes had monthly payments that equaled or exceeded their monthly incomes. Such loans quickly led borrowers into default and foreclosure. Outright fraud and abuse – In many instances, abusive practices amount to nothing less than outright fraud. We heard many stories from borrowers who testified at the regional forums of fraud perpetrated by unscrupulous mortgage brokers, lenders, home improvement contractors, appraisers, and combinations thereof. Unscrupulous actors in these markets often prey on certain groups – the elderly, minorities, and individuals with lower incomes and less education – with deceptive or high-pressure sales tactics. The Subprime Mortgage Market Predatory lending occurs primarily in the subprime mortgage lending market, which has grown rapidly over the past several years. Subprime loan originations increased from $35 billion in 1994 to $160 billion in 1999. The subprime market share increased from less than 5 percent of all mortgage originations in 1994 to almost 13 percent in 1999. Securitization of subprime mortgages has developed in the past few years and has contributed significantly to rapid growth of the market. Issuance of securities backed by subprime mortgages increased from $11 billion in 1994 to $83 billion in 1998. In 1998, 55 percent of subprime mortgages were securitized, falling back to 37 percent in 1999. By providing loans to borrowers who do not meet the credit standards for borrowers in the 2 prime market, subprime lending provides an important service, enabling such borrowers to buy new homes, improve their homes, or access the equity in their homes for other purposes. A majority of mortgages in the subprime market are used for consumer debt rather than housing purposes. As the HUD-Treasury Task Force forums demonstrates, however, the subprime market can be fertile ground for predatory lending activities. As documented by this report, predatory lending practices can occur at any stage of the loan process and be undertaken, or at least facilitated, by any of the many participants in a particular