Community Group Urges Lending Reform

Poor consumers need to be protected from themselves.  Left to their own poor devices, advocates say, there’s no end of financial trouble they’ll get in to.  Which is why, advocates for the poor argue, tougher laws are needed to protect consumers from lenders pushing high-interest home loans.

The National Community Reinvestment Coalition, a network of 640 groups nationwide, said federal bank regulators and members of Congress ignored warnings for several years about a potential wave of defaults in risky loans.

"We have for many years urged Congress and urged those who are responsible to take action," said John Taylor, president of the coalition, in a statement. "Frankly, it’s appalling what they haven’t done… Today we call on the (Bush) administration and the Congress to take back the reins."

The Bush administration’s housing secretary said Wednesday that the government is preparing to punish some subprime mortgage lenders under investigation for discriminatory practices.