Kat Aaron and Mary Kane on how new rules could transform the predatory-lending debate:
When Congress began tackling financial reform, the overhaul quickly became labeled as “historic” and “sweeping,” with attention deservedly focused on regulating derivatives, winding down large financial institutions, and creating the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to regulate mortgages and other financial products. But lost in the torrent of news coverage was a significant move to change the way key information on borrowers and mortgage loans is collected and made public. Those changes, to the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) represent a benchmark in the long fight against lending discrimination.