Working on getting that barn door closed

The US House of Representatives passed HR 3915, which if it becomes law would

• Create a licensing system for residential mortgage loan originators
• Establish a minimum standard requiring that borrowers have a reasonable ability to repay a loan
• Attach a limited liability to secondary market securitizers
• Expand and enhance consumer protections for “high-cost loans”
• Protect renters of foreclosed homes
• Establish an Office of Housing Counseling through the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
  

I know I keep saying this whole housing bubble was due to aggressive financial chicanery unbounded by a failed federal regulatory regime. A lot of bad people did bad things to the rest of us, and are going to keep the profits they made during that time. But, if people ever talked to me, I worry that one might say "Rionn, what could the gub'ment have done?" That's just how I imagine people talking. I'm glad to see Congress illustrating some things they could have done in the mid-90s.

I do sort of wonder what it means to protect renters of foreclosed homes, but I imagine it's in line with creating a market for national housing managers working with foreclosing mortgage lenders.

I got this news, incidentally, through my Representative's (Carolyn Maloney) RSS feed. There's a fair amount of information in that thing. You can find your rep by zip-nine code, and see if you get the same service.