IV 
110TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 391 
Recognizing the disparities that are associated with predatory lending abuses 
in minority communities and expressing the sense of the Congress that 
as new abuses continue to emerge, such laws should ensure that all 
those responsible for representing and protecting families have the au-
thority to act to address these new problems. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 17, 2008 
Ms. CLARKE (for herself and Mr. TOWNS) submitted the following concurrent 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 
Recognizing the disparities that are associated with predatory 
lending abuses in minority communities and expressing 
the sense of the Congress that as new abuses continue 
to emerge, such laws should ensure that all those respon-
sible for representing and protecting families have the 
authority to act to address these new problems. 
Whereas minorities have a long history of rejection by prime- 
rate lenders; 
Whereas subprime mortgages are typically offered to bor-
rowers who do not meet the credit standards for bor-
rowing in the prime market and these loans cater to peo-
ple with blemished credit records or little experience with 
debt; 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
02:02 Jul 18, 2008
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HC391.IH
HC391
smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
•HCON 391 IH 
Whereas inadequate attention has been paid to the concentra-
tion of these mortgages in neighborhoods that are largely 
African-American, Latino, or both; 
Whereas some of the biggest lenders in minority neighbor-
hoods are mortgage companies that provide only 
subprime mortgages, not full-service banks that do a 
range of lending; 
Whereas a 2006 study by the Center for Responsible Lending 
(CRL), a nonprofit home ownership research group, con-
cludes that African-Americans and Latinos are more like-
ly to be steered into high-risk subprime mortgages; 
Whereas advocacy groups say poor and minority borrowers 
who qualify for traditional mortgages are frequently nev-
ertheless steered into mortgages that reset automatically 
to much higher interest rates after a short ‘‘teaser’’ pe-
riod resulting in payment increases of hundreds of dollars 
each month; 
Whereas these subprime mortgages are characterized by low 
‘‘introductory’’ interest rates, usually for the first 2 or 3 
years and these rates frequently rise rapidly in subse-
quent years; 
Whereas African-Americans and Latinos are getting charged 
for more expensive mortgage loans than White borrowers, 
even when they have equal credit histories; 
Whereas a nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating 
abusive financial practices examined 50,000 mortgages 
and discovered that the two minority groups were almost 
a third more likely to pay more for a loan than similarly 
situated White borrowers; 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
02:02 Jul 18, 2008
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HC391.IH
HC391
smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
•HCON 391 IH 
Whereas the Center for Community Change reports that Afri-
can-American and Latino borrowers are more likely to 
recieve subprime loans than White borrowers; 
Whereas Harvard Law School Professor Howell Jackson has 
conducted research demonstrating racial disparities in 
loan costs due to yield-spread premiums; 
Whereas Professor Jackson’s research has concluded that Af-
rican-Americans pay an additional up front charge aver-
aging $474 per loan, while Latinos pay an average addi-
tional $580 per loan on average; 
Whereas other causes of pricing disparities may include the 
inconsistent application of objective pricing criteria, tar-
geting of families of color by higher rate lenders or bro-
kers, and lack of investment by lower cost lenders in mi-
nority communities; 
Whereas information from the United States Federal Reserve 
demonstrates that African-Americans are 3.2 times more 
likely to receive a subprime loan than White borrowers; 
Whereas in 2007, the number of homeowners defaulting on 
subprime mortgages began to soar; 
Whereas it is estimated that as many as 2,200,000 house-
holds are at risk of defaulting on their subprime loans 
and losing their homes; 
Whereas minorities are facing foreclosure or losing their 
homes disproportionately; and 
Whereas Latino civil rights organizations say that this dis-
crimination affects the large wave of first-time and first- 
generation Latino home buyers who are showing up in 
the housing market: Now, therefore, be it 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
02:02 Jul 18, 2008
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HC391.IH
HC391
smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
•HCON 391 IH 
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
concurring), That the Congress— 
(1) recognizes that for most types of subprime 
mortgages, borrowers of color are more likely to re-
ceive higher rate loans and there are many factors 
that have played roles in making these mortgages 
more costly to these borrowers; 
(2) encourages fair pricing of home mortgages 
that is based only on legitimate risk factors and fa-
cilitates economic progress for all borrowers; 
(3) encourages lenders to eliminate discre-
tionary pricing in the subprime mortgage market 
and prompts them to adopt transparent, market- 
driven prices for mortgages representing similar 
risks; 
(4) encourages more transparency by— 
(A) addressing yield-spread premiums in 
laws designed to protect homeowners from abu-
sive lending practices; 
(B) prohibiting yield-spread premiums 
subprime and nontraditional home loans; 
(C) improving transparency of yield-spread 
premiums by requiring brokers to explain to ap-
plicants what the rate, payment, and fees on 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
02:02 Jul 18, 2008
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\HC391.IH
HC391
smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
•HCON 391 IH 
the loan could be with and without the yield- 
spread premium; 
(D) following the trends of the securities 
industry, holding lenders and brokers respon-
sible for providing loans that are suitable for a 
given borrower; and 
(E) prohibiting prepayment penalties in 
subprime loans; 
(5) encourages preventing pricing discrimina-
tion by requiring subprime lenders to disclose more 
detailed pricing and underwriting information in 
their Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data; 
(6) encourages regulators to report annually on 
the number of fair lending examinations performed 
and for each examination provide publicly available 
information, including— 
(A) identifying the indicators of potential 
discriminatory activity, if any; and 
(B) identifying the protected class or class-
es believed to be potentially disadvantaged by 
such activity, and the outcome of each review; 
(7) encourages public and private partnerships 
to ensure responsible investments are made in un-
derserved communities; 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
02:02 Jul 18, 2008
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\HC391.IH
HC391
smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
•HCON 391 IH 
(8) recognizes that policymakers should review 
whether lower cost lenders need additional incentives 
to help meet the credit needs of communities of 
color; 
(9) upholds the laws and regulations that pro-
hibit predatory, irresponsible subprime lending and 
have proven effective in reducing the number of abu-
sive loans while maintaining a vibrant market for 
subprime home loans; 
(10) urges policymakers to endorse legislation 
that builds on the proven methods for protecting 
families from abusive lending while retaining access 
to subprime credit; and 
(11) urges policy makers to oppose pre-emption 
of State and local laws designed to protect home-
owners. 
Æ 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
02:02 Jul 18, 2008
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\HC391.IH
HC391
smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS