Fed supports new mortgage rules

The Federal Reserve, in a reversal, supports new regulations for exotic
and high-cost loans given to borrowers with weak credit. The rules
would force lenders to show that borrowers can afford their loans.
Hidden sales fees that are often combined into interest payments would
have to be disclosed and certain forms of advertising would be
prohibited. “Unfair and deceptive acts and practices hurt not just
borrowers and their families,” said Ben S. Bernanke, chairman of the
Federal Reserve, “but entire communities, and, indeed, the economy as a
whole.”