AG Coakley issues mortgage regulations

The office of Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley said today that it has issued final mortgage broker and lender regulations that aim to ban unfair or deceptive practices that contributed to the foreclosure crisis.

According to Coakley's office, the new regulations will take effect in a matter of weeks, and the regulations include provisions that would prohibit mortgage brokers or lenders from making a loan if they do not have a reasonable belief that the borrower is able to repay the loan.

Mortgage broker and lenders will also be required to disclose how a mortgage's interest rate or other charges will increase, and the regulations will prohibit brokers and lenders from steering borrowers to loan products that are more costly than those that the borrowers qualify for, Coakley's office said.

The new regulations will give the attorney general's office the ability to "more easily bring cases against unscrupulous lenders under the Consumer Protection Law," Coakley said in a statement.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)