Frank wants answers on jumbo loan inaction
A key House lawmaker is complaining that the mortgage industry hasn't done its part to make higher-value loans available in costly housing markets after Congress took action in February.
US Representative Barney Frank, a Newton Democrat, said today that the House Financial Services Committee that he chairs will hold a May 21 hearing to try to find out why so-called jumbo mortgages remain difficult to get and often carry high interest rates.
Frank will try to get answers from mortgage bankers, Wall Street financiers, and government-sponsored mortgage firms Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Frank told a Mortgage Bankers Association Convention in Boston that the various players are pointing fingers at one another more than a month after new regulations took effect. Congress passed a bill allowing Fannie and Freddie to buy and guarantee loans up to more than $700,000, compared with the previous cap of $417,000. (AP)
