Hearing to Spotlight B&C Foreclosure Fears

Mortgage industry representatives will have a chance to calm fears that a wave of subprime foreclosures could reach crisis proportions over the next few years when they testify before the Senate Banking Committee on Feb. 7.Committee Chairman Christopher J. Dodd, D-Conn., has scheduled the hearing, entitled "Preserving the Dream: Predatory Lending Practices and Home Foreclosures," largely in response to a Center for Responsible Lending study indicating that 20% of all adjustable-rate subprime mortgages originated in 2005 and 2006 will end up in foreclosure. Citing the CRL study, Sen. Dodd said recently that 2.2 million families with nontraditional or subprime loans made since 1998 "have faced or will soon face foreclosures because of mortgage lending practices that have been described as 'predatory' in nature." Executives from the CRL, the Mortgage Bankers Association, the National Association of Mortgage Brokers, and others will testify, including two consumers.