MBA lobbies on proposed mortgage rules

The Mortgage Bankers Association is lobbying federal regulators to omit protections for homeowners facing foreclosure from the new mortgage lending rules currently under development in Washington, D.C., the Wall Street Journal reported. A new requirement that would require companies issuing mortgage-backed securities to retain 5 percent of the risk is in the works, but under discussion is whether standards for the servicers collecting home loan payments should also be included in the same set of rules. In a letter to regulators yesterday, trade group president John Courson wrote that conflating both protection for homeowners and risk retention for lenders could wind up “giving short-shrift to two highly complex and critically important issues.” While consumer advocates have been pushing to install new standards for servicers as soon as possible, Courson attempted to put on the brakes. New standards, he wrote, are “still very much in the conceptual stage.” [WSJ]