Watt's up with sub-prime loans
Yeah, I know, bad pun.
A couple days ago, I caught up with Rep. Mel Watt, a Charlotte Democrat who represents the meandering 12th Congressional District that includes parts of High Point and Greensboro, during an whistle-stop hosted by SHARE of N.C.
Watt is a long-time member of the House Financial Services Committee, which oversees banking and mortgage regulation. And since he was at an event involving Housing, I asked him for his take on the sub-prime mortgage market, which has been experiencing a lot of trouble as of late.
"What a lot of the lenders missed was that it can't just be about making money on a loan short term," he said. "Financial education, rehabilitation of credit, building community networks around people, providing basic lawn mowers and basic maintenance advice — all of that is necessary for home ownership," Watt said. "And I think the lenders, a lot of them, lost sight of it in the name of making a quick buck."
But Watt added, "We don't want the market to over-react." He said the worry now is that lenders would stop making loans to low-income folks and make it impossible for people to get into their first homes.
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