Kerry Wants National Predatory Law

Presidential hopeful John Kerry said Friday that he will press for national predatory-lending legislation to limit the financing of residential loan origination fees and prepayment penalties.In a policy statement, the Kerry-Edwards campaign also said it would limit balloon-payment mortgages and ban single-premium mortgage insurance. Wright Andrews, an attorney for the Coalition for Fair and Affordable Lending (which is lobbying for a national predatory bill), said the Kerry-Edwards platform statement in general "appears supportive" of what CFAL wants to accomplish. But he noted, "They haven't yet given us the specifics." (CFAL says it represents more than one-third of the nonprime lending industry.) Mitch Feinstein, chairman of the National Home Equity Mortgage Association, said his group also supports the Kerry-Edwards proposal but is waiting to hear specifics. Sen. Kerry, D.-Mass., actually unveiled the proposal at a fundraiser dinner Thursday night in California.