HR 1728

HR 1728 is a mortgage reform bill passed by congress earlier this month.

"The act is to,
To amend the Truth in Lending Act to reform consumer mortgage practices and provide accountability for such practices, to provide certain minimum standards for consumer mortgage loans, and for other purposes."

The bill is to be presented to the senate sometime in the future, and when and if it does pass and become law this could change the way mortgages are originated in the future.
The bill is comprehensive, covering from the mortgage origination to mortgage standards to appraisal, high cost mortgages counseling and fraud prevention and a host of other related activities.

I am impressed by the breath of the act, and an extensive portion of the act is to protect the consumer from unscrupulous practices of the lenders and brokers.
Many of the current lending practices may have to change and brokers in particular may be most affected. The bill is to reform and regulate many areas of the mortgage industry, and heated discussions by interested parties have argued for the pro and cons of the bill.

It is too early to tell how all this will turn out, but one example of what is proposed is the elimination of the broker compensation from the lenders in the form of rebate points.
As most borrow123.com customers know, we offer rebate points corresponding to certain interest rates, you then can have a choice of lower rates or higher rate with rebate points to offset closing cost. This practice may be eliminated, along this proposal is brokers may not be compensated by lenders so we may have to charge borrower for origination fee, making the zero point loan extinct.

So this is not an attempt from me to rush you to refinance but rather a heads up on current mortgage reform and maybe trigger readers who are interested to look further into the possible impact of the bill.

On a personal note, for long time borrow123.com customer, I like to report two of my former employees, processor Olivia and Loan consultant Qi, pronounced as Chee, during the slow down of the market both have graduated from law school and Olivia has past the Bar exam and is practicing in a DC law firm, while Qi is scheduled to take the Bar soon.
Congrats to them and this is also an indication of great people I have had working for Borrow123.com.