House Dispute Halts Mortgage Legislation

2009-02-28 02:40:56 (GMT) (WiredPRNews.com - News, US Presidential News)

A dispute among House Democrats leads to a delay of mortgage legislation.

Wired PR News.com – A disagreement among Democratic members of the House caused a delay in mortgage legislation on Thursday. As reported by the Associated Press (AP), some were concerned about the bill’s effect on struggling homeowners, which led to the spat that caused a delay in passing the measure.

As noted in the AP report, the legislation will allow bankruptcy judges to decrease principal and interest for homeowners with mortgages. The controversial housing package component has been the focus of lobbying efforts of the banking industry, which has widely opposed it. The industry is seeking more restrictions for the bill to lessen the scope of borrowers included. Some House Democrats oppose the heavier restrictions, which are said to possibly omit some heavily burdened homeowners in need of help.

Francis Creighton with the Mortgage Bankers Association is quoted in the report as stating of the debate, “We’re encouraged that the House is taking some more time to think this through, and we hope that by next week we can see some more changes to further improve the bill.”