WASHINGTON — When competing for time on the House Financial Services Committee's docket, supporters of CURIA are hopeful the bill can run with the big boys in terms of priorities.
"The CURIA hearing is competing for a limited number of days on the schedule that they can hold hearings…Obviously there are a number of other issues that have emerged that are competing for days," NAFCU Director of Legislative Affairs Brad Thaler said. Even if Congress runs past its target adjournment date, it will still be a tight squeeze among all the competing interests.
A second look at the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data, which attempts to measure minority and low-income mortgage lending, is expected after a hearing in July, which could ultimately lead to changes in Community Reinvestment Act requirements. "I think they're looking at the HMDA data. You saw one hearing by [House Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee] Chairman [Mel] Watt (D-N.C.) on the HMDA data. You saw [House Financial Services Committee] Chairman [Barney] Frank (D-Mass.) comment at the hearing that he was disappointed in what he saw in the HMDA data and indicated [they need] to look at what's being done on this issue in terms of service to underserved or low-income populations," Thaler explained.
Recommended For You
He added, "There are proposals out there that CRA should be revised or extended. There's no legislative proposal right now to extend it to credit unions although members from Chairman Frank on down have indicated that is something they need to take a look at and they may support."
Thaler stated that NAFCU is on record in opposition to CRA for credit unions. "Credit unions are already doing the steps required in CRA and imposing CRA on credit unions imposes unnecessary regulatory burden on credit unions for something that they're already doing," he explained. "It's all cost to the institutions and no benefit."
If credit unions have to defend themselves from CRA, Thaler said he does not expect it to be a distraction from CURIA. "I think there are members of Congress who recognize that credit unions are doing a good job and that CRA should not be extended to credit unions and doing so would just be an unnecessary burden."
As press time was nearing, the House Financial Services Committee held a hearing entitled Recent Events in the Credit and Financial Markets and Possible Implications for U.S. Consumers and the Global Economy. Initially, the hearing was to focus on the broader financial markets and the subprime issue. However, after the president's recent announcement (See related story page 13), the hearing focus was shifted to the broader credit and financial markets and how federal regulators are responding to these developments. Representatives from Treasury, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Securities and Exchange Commission, and FDIC participated.
Thaler anticipates that the Small Business Committee will finalize the Small Business Administration reauthorization legislation soon, freeing it to deal with other legislation, like the Credit Union Small Business Lending Act (H.R. 1849)
possibly later this year.
The Senate Banking Committee is expected to pick up steam in the fall as well. Some have said Chairman Christopher Dodd's (D-Conn.) attention to his presidential campaign has slowed committee work, but now the committee is expected to take up a number of House-passed items, from GSE reform, flood insurance, and terrorism risk insurance.
Dodd also announced that he would introduce legislation last week in an effort to curb predatory mortgage lending and protect homeownership. "Let me be clear: affordable home loans are a good thing; predatory lending is not. Predatory lending needs to be stopped, which is why I intend to introduce legislation that will put an end to the practices that have forced thousands of Americans into foreclosure and put
thousands more in danger of losing their homes," Dodd said.
He plans in his legislation to quash prepayment penalties, prohibit brokers from pushing home
buyers into more expensive loans, and keep people in their homes.
Center for Responsible Lending CEO Martin Eakes, also the CEO of Self-Help Credit Union, commented, "There is an urgent need to address the epidemic of foreclosures in the subprime market today, and we applaud Senator Dodd's leadership in addressing the reckless underwriting and dangerous products that have put the homes of over 2.2 million families at risk of foreclosure."
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
