Hispanic Caucus Seeks RESPA Revision

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus wants the Department of Housing and Urban Development to revise its RESPA reform proposal before issuing a final rule.In a letter to HUD Secretary Mel Martinez, the caucus argues that the final rule to revamp the department's Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act regulations will hurt minority homebuyers and minority-owned small businesses. "We support HUD's efforts to simplify and improve the process of obtaining mortgages and reducing costs for future homebuyers," the letter says. "However, we believe HUD's final rule will, instead, confuse homebuyers by complicating the home buying process, and increasing the cost of credit thereby hurting the very people it is intended to help." HUD officials declined to comment on the Oct. 17 letter. The Hispanic caucus sent a similar letter to President Bush pledging to work with HUD and the administration on improving the final rule.