H. Res. 526 
In the House of Representatives, U. S., 
July 11, 2007. 
Whereas home ownership is an important 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 rais-
ing 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 per-
cent, a near record high; 
Whereas the home ownership rate for non-Hispanic whites in 
2006 was 76 percent, while the rate for African Amer-
ican households was only 48.2 percent; Hispanic house-
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;
•HRES 526 EH 
Whereas the sub-prime market has created home ownership 
opportunities for lower-income people, families without 
access to down payments and people with little or no 
credit histories, but has also created opportunities for 
‘‘predatory’’ lending in which unscrupulous lenders have 
hidden the true cost of sub-prime loans from unsophisti-
cated borrowers; 
Whereas during the past few months, it has become increas-
ingly clear that irresponsible sub-prime lending practices 
have contributed to a wave of foreclosures that are harm-
ing communities and disrupting housing markets; 
Whereas higher cost sub-prime mortgage loans are most prev-
alent in lower-income neighborhoods with high concentra-
tions of minorities (in 2005, 53 percent of African Amer-
ican and 37.8 percent of Hispanic borrowers took out 
sub-prime loans); 
Whereas foreclosures are also costly from a legal and admin-
istrative 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 thousands of dollars 
per foreclosure; 
Whereas foreclosures can also be very costly for local govern-
ments because abandoned homes cost districts tax rev-
enue; 
Whereas a recent study calculated that a single-family home 
foreclosure lowers the value of homes located within one- 
eighth of a mile (or one city block) by an average of 0.9 
percent and even more so (1.4 percent) in low to mod-
erate-income communities; and
•HRES 526 EH 
Whereas the time has come to raise awareness about the dan-
gers of risky loans and to protect homeowners from un-
scrupulous lending practices: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That— 
(1) it is the sense of the House that Government 
action should be taken that protects buyers from unscru-
pulous mortgage brokers and lenders; and 
(2) specifically, such action should— 
(A) enforce rules to eliminate unfair and de-
ceptive practices in sub-prime mortgage lending; 
(B) encourage lenders to evaluate a borrower’s 
ability to reasonably repay any mortgage loan; 
(C) establish clear minimum standards for 
mortgage originators; 
(D) require that disclosures clearly and effec-
tively communicate necessary information about any 
mortgage loan to the potential borrower; 
(E) reduce or eliminate abuses in prepayment 
penalties; 
(F) address appraisal and other mortgage 
fraud;
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(G) raise public awareness regarding mortgage 
originators whose loans have high foreclosure rates; 
and 
(H) increase opportunities for loan counseling. 
Attest: 
Clerk.