AARP Georgia Blasts GFLA Revision

AARP Georgia has blasted the newly enacted revision of the Georgia Fair Lending Act, terming the March 7 bill signing "the culmination of a seven-week misinformation campaign against Georgia consumers."The retirees' lobby rejected the notion that the law, which amends certain GFLA provisions and repeals others, will be good for "those vulnerable to scam artists and unscrupulous lenders." Kathy Floyd, AARP Georgia's advocacy director, said the group had endorsed a compromise measure that "addressed secondary market concerns and kept strong, i.e. real, consumer protections against predatory lenders," but that Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue refused to discuss the compromise with consumer groups. Ms. Floyd termed assertions that the mortgage market was drying up in Georgia as a result of GFLA "totally fabricated." The new legislation repeals the category of "covered loans," but does not change the "high-cost home loan" category. For the secondary market, it repeals assignee liability for violations, so long as assignees have policies prohibiting the purchase of high-cost home loans. It requires the seller to represent and warrant that the loans being purchased are not high-cost home loans.