Will mortgage regs drain credit unions’ will to lend?

Regulator moves give compliance pros a mixed view of what’s happening and what’s to come.

by: Marc Rapport

A couple recent articles in the trade news makes one mull whether the glass is half empty or half full in the credit union mortgage lending space.

The first was an Oct. 7 piece in Credit Union Times that says most housing finance executives pin declining mortgage lending on the regulatory burden. That was according to a survey by The Collingwood Group in which a large majority of the respondents say increased regulation has forced them to tighten mortgage credit.

The second was in the Credit Union Journal on Oct. 8 and titled “What Regulators Plan to Target Next on the Mortgages Front.” It included this quote from Department of Justice attorney Steven Rosenbaum at a conference the week before: “We do not regulate you. We do not supervise you. We do sue you.”

Rosenbaum was talking about redlining and about pricing loans based on investor desires, that article says. He also says his department has gotten 24 mortgage complaint referrals from other agencies in the past three fiscal years.

 

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