The fox is officially entering the hen house.

Do to the lack of standards in the mortgage industry by brokers, lenders, and Wall Street, the door was opened to allow the federal government to start the debilitating regulation process on the mortgage industry. The House Financial Services Committee has approved a bill that if passed by the full Congress and signed by the President, would severely restrict the mortgage industry.

And things will never be the same again.

I hate to say it, but this all could have been avoided. The rush of politicians into the industry was caused by the industry. The vacuum of ethical behavior during the land rush that was the beginning of the 21^st century is all the politicians needed. When you hear a politician like Barney Frank say “I think we have a national crisis to which we have to respond,”, you know you have messed up big time and no will have to swallow the poison.  

The bill passed on a 45-19 vote. It bill now heads to the full House for a vote and would need to clear the Senate and be signed by the president before becoming law. One analyst said the bill could pass the House by Thanksgiving.
The bill would mandate licensing for mortgage brokers and bank loan officers and set a minimum standard for all mortgages requiring that borrowers must have a reasonable ability to pay.
Lawmakers and the Bush administration have been scrambling to address the fallout from the subprime-mortgage meltdown. More than 2 million subprime mortgages are expected to reset to higher interest rates in the next 18 months. The Bush administration says current trends suggest there will be just over 1 million foreclosures this year, with 620,000 of those in the subprime market. via MarketWatch

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