Plan To Curb Shady Mortgage Practices

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Federal Reserve has endorsed new rules that would give people taking out home mortgages new protections against shady lending practices.<br/><br/>The proposed regulations are designed

Tuesday, December 18th 2007, 8:16 pm

By: News On 6

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Federal Reserve has endorsed new rules that would give people taking out home mortgages new protections against shady lending practices.

The proposed regulations are designed to provide safeguards to the riskiest "subprime" borrowers, who have already been hurt by the housing and credit debacles. The proposal is expected to apply to new loans made by all types of lenders, including banks and brokers, and could kick in next year.

Among the proposals is one that would keep lenders from penalizing borrowers with tarnished credit or low incomes who pay off their loans early. Another would bar lenders from making loans when they don't have proof of a borrower's income.