Industry groups applauded the passage of the bill, which awaits only the president’s signature to become law
The House of Representatives voted late Tuesday to pass a bill that will roll back portions of the Dodd-Frank Act. The bill, already passed by the Senate in March, now only awaits President Donald Trump’s signature to become law.
Dodd-Frank has long been a thorn in the side of the financial services industry, with bankers and mortgage professionals saying that it settled onerous ruled on their shoulders and hurt their ability to do business. It’s also long been a target of congressional Republicans.
Democrats, however, say that the act – passed in 2010 to stem the abuses that led to the 2008 financial crisis – is necessary to keep big business in line. Democrats decried the rollback as a giveaway to the same financial giants whose abuses triggered the meltdown.
“These banks are back to making record profits, but Washington insists on doing them more favors, even if it means raising the risk of another bailout,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) told NBC News.
Industry groups, however, praised the passage of the bill.
"I want to commend the House of Representatives for joining the Senate and passing this bill, which will protect consumers and provide greater access to mortgage credit,” said David H. Stevens, president and CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association. “Specifically, this legislation includes: SAFE Act amendments which provide mortgage loan originators with 120 days of transitional authority to originate when moving from a federal depository to a non-bank (or across state lines), subjecting Property Assessed Clean Lending (PACE) or property retrofit loans to Truth In Lending Act consumer protections, critical consumer protections to US veterans who use the VA Home Loan program, clarifying the High Volatility Commercial Real Estate rule to help promote sustainable construction and development, and targeted TILA/RESPA Integrated Disclosure fixes. MBA looks forward to the president signing this bill into law.”
“We commend members of Congress for passing this bipartisan legislation to level the lending playing field for community banks and credit unions,” said Elizabeth Mendenhall, president of the National Association of Realtors. “This bill provides appropriate consumer protections while going a long way toward removing undue regulatory burdens on small lenders, which will help keep them strong so they can help keep communities strong.”
