Democratic Candidates Picking On Mortgage Brokers

CNNMoney reports:

• "In the wake of the subprime mess, Democratic presidential candidates are grabbing hold of the issue and offering their own solutions. And the problem, according to many of them, lies with the mortgage broker. [...] Last week, Sen. Hillary Clinton came out with a plan to address lending abuses. One of its main policy planks was to 'crack down on unscrupulous brokers.'"

In what sounds like a reasonable reponse, a mortgage broker trade group responded:

• "The entire mortgage system needs to be examined from stem to stern," the [National Association of Mortgage Brokers] said in a statement, "from the home shopping phase, bankers, brokers, and lenders, all the way to Wall Street and the rating agencies."

(Don't forget the mortgage servicing companies who, while they don't engage in predatory lending practices, may engage in predatory servicing practices and can potentially be just as effective in screwing the homeowner as anyone else in the "securitization pipeline.")

For more, see Dems take on mortgage meltdown (Clinton, Dodd, Obama and Edwards offer ways to avoid future mortgage meltdowns).