IV 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. CON. RES. 127 

Supporting home ownership and responsible lending. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 24, 2007 

Mr. CUMMINGS submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was 

referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 

Supporting home ownership and responsible lending. 

Whereas home ownership is an essential part of realizing the 

American Dream; 

Whereas home ownership is a powerful economic stimulus, 

both for individual homeowners and for the national 

economy; 

Whereas home ownership also benefits neighborhoods by raising property values and by providing economic and social 

capital in previously distressed communities; 

Whereas in 2006, more than 75,000,000 Americans owned 

homes, and the home ownership rate was nearly 69 percent, a near record high; 

Whereas the home ownership rate for non-Hispanic whites in 

2006 was 76 percent, while the rate for African American households was only 48.2 percent; Hispanic houseVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:36 Apr 25, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HC127.IH HC127

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holds were at 49.5 percent, and Asian, Native Americans, 

and Pacific Islanders were at 60 percent; 

Whereas this Nation experienced a housing boom from 2001 

to 2006, due to historically low mortgage rates, rising 

home prices, and increased liquidity in the secondary 

mortgage market, all factors that led to the growth of the 

sub-prime mortgage industry; 

Whereas the sub-prime market has created opportunities for 

‘‘predatory’’ lending in which unscrupulous lenders have 

hidden the true cost of sub-prime loans from unsophisticated borrowers; 

Whereas during the past few months, it has become increasingly clear that irresponsible sub-prime lending practices 

are contributing to a wave of foreclosures that are harming homeowners and rattling the housing markets; 

Whereas an estimated 1 in 5 sub-prime loans issued in 2005 

and 2006 will go into default, costing 2,200,000 home 

owners their homes over the next several years; 

Whereas sub-prime mortgage loans are most prevalent in 

lower-income neighborhoods with high concentrations of 

minorities (in 2005, 53 percent of African American and 

37.8 percent of Hispanic borrowers took out sub-prime 

loans), and more minorities are being steered into the 

higher-rate, sub-prime loan market than are white borrowers with the same qualifications; 

Whereas foreclosures are also costly from a legal and administrative standpoint, with the average foreclosure costing 

the borrower $7,200 in administrative charges; 

Whereas lenders do not typically benefit from taking over a 

delinquent owner’s property, losing as much as $50,000 

per foreclosure; 


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Whereas foreclosures can also be very costly for local governments because abandoned homes cost districts tax revenue; 

Whereas a recent study calculated that a single-family home 

foreclosure lowers the value of homes located within oneeighth of a mile (or one city block) by an average of 0.9 

percent and even more so (1.4 percent) in low to moderate-income communities; and 

Whereas the time has come to raise awareness about the dangers of sub-prime loans and to protect homeowners from 

unscrupulous lending practices: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 

2 concurring), That— 

3 (1) it is the sense of the Congress that legisla4 tion should be enacted that protects buyers who have 

5 been victims of unscrupulous mortgage brokers and 

6 lenders; and 

7 (2) specifically, such legislation should— 

8 (A) include an anti-predatory lending pro9 vision that bans unfair and deceptive practices; 

10 (B) require lenders to evaluate a bor11 rower’s ability to pay over the life of the loan 

12 (at the fully indexed rate for the fully amortized 

13 amount); 

14 (C) establish Federal regulations regarding 

15 licensing, education, and experience requireVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:36 Apr 25, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HC127.IH HC127

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1 ments for mortgage brokers and loan officers in 

2 non-bank companies; 

3 (D) require that disclosures be written in 

4 plain language and prominently displayed in a 

5 manner that is visually clear and effectively 

6 communicates the intended information to the 

7 potential borrower; 

8 (E) reduce or eliminate prepayment pen9 alties; 

10 (F) notify potential home buyers of lenders 

11 or brokers with high foreclosure rates; and 

12 (G) mandate pre-loan counseling. 

Æ 


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