NAR Letter to Chairwoman Waters and Ranking Member McHenry Regarding HR 166 and HR 3009
Issue Date: May 12, 2021
On May 12 NAR sent a letter to Chairwoman Waters, Ranking Member McHenry, and the members of the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services. The letter expresses NAR’s views on H.R. 166, The Fair Lending for All Act and H.R. 3009, the Improving Language Access in Mortgage Servicing Act. REALTORS® believe that homeownership – and the mortgage credit foundation it rests upon – is the bedrock of the American Dream. Broad access to homeownership depends upon an open housing market that is free from discrimination. NAR believes that the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) is essential for a financial marketplace that operates in an equitable and inclusive manner, free from discrimination. Strong enforcement of ECOA should include the use of testing to uncover discriminatory lending practices. NAR also champions efforts to facilitate homeownership and expand access to financing among consumers of all backgrounds. We support development and use of a standard language preference form that will enable creditors to provide consumers with access to mortgage documents in their preferred language, if those documents have been translated by a government agency.