Subprime Group Backs Fee Assessment

To fund homeownership education and tougher enforcement of a nationwide anti-predatory lending law, a coalition of subprime lenders has endorsed a proposal to assess a fee on every subprime origination."We know that the funding for some of these things is difficult in states and cities these days," Steven Nadon, chairman of the Coalition for Fair and Affordable Lending told a House panel. "So we are saying let us pony up some of the money for that on every loan we fund." CFAL supports enactment of a national lending standard that would preempt state and local predatory lending laws. Mr. Nadon told MortgageWire that CFAL is not proposing to impose a fee on prime loans. "If prime lenders and Fannie and Freddie thought it was a good idea, that would be terrific," he said. Mr. Nadon is chairman and chief operating officer of Option One Mortgage, Irvine, Calif.