Rulemakers Told to Slow Down

Regulators and legislators should not go too far in reining in so-called "toxic loans," the chairman of the Mortgage Bankers Association said at the group's nonprime conference.Some loan products that lawmakers at the state and federal levels are seeking to bridle are "valuable tools" that enable people with affordability problems to achieve homeownership, San Diego mortgage banker John Robbins said. He said the market is already adjusting to the overzealousness of some originators, and today's loans are "significantly more conservative." "The market is efficient," he said. "It has [moved] and always will move at lightning speed" compared with those who oversee it. Rather than curb the use of such loans, or make it all but impossible for borrowers to qualify for them, Mr. Robbins called on lawmakers to work with the industry in repairing a lending process that includes, among other things, 21 federal forms "written in complex legal language which those within the industry cannot explain, much less understand." He said that as part of the fix, the industry's compensation structure must be "realigned" so that commissions to loan officers, account executives, and mortgage brokers do not contain excessive fees or yield-spread premiums. During his keynote address, Mr. Robbins took particular umbrage at what he said are "irresponsible" statistics being used by the Center for Responsible Lending. He said 86% of all subprime borrowers are currently paying their notes on time.