Full Text of HR0824 94th General Assembly
HR0824 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, The Illinois House of Representatives recognizes | 3 |
| that predatory lending is a serious problem that victimizes | 4 |
| homeowners throughout our State through the provision of | 5 |
| financing that they cannot afford and that, for many, results | 6 |
| in default, foreclosure, and the loss of their home; the | 7 |
| highest concentration of these victims is found among our most | 8 |
| vulnerable citizens, especially the elderly; and | 9 |
| WHEREAS, The Illinois House of Representatives further | 10 |
| recognizes that the practice of predatory lending serves to | 11 |
| undermine the health and quality of life in local communities | 12 |
| throughout Illinois because the growing volume of foreclosures | 13 |
| caused by this unprincipled activity results in dense clusters | 14 |
| of vacant and abandoned homes severely compromising the | 15 |
| physical safety and home equity value of surrounding neighbors; | 16 |
| and
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| WHEREAS, In 2003, the Illinois General Assembly enacted the | 18 |
| High Risk Home Loan Act to provide additional protection from | 19 |
| predatory lending to Illinois home loan borrowers by (i) | 20 |
| establishing standards for lenders engaged in high risk | 21 |
| lending, (ii) endowing high-risk loan borrowers with the right | 22 |
| to pursue civil remedies against both the originator and | 23 |
| secondary market holder of the loans, and (iii) allowing the | 24 |
| Illinois Attorney General to pursue civil actions against | 25 |
| unscrupulous lenders under the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive | 26 |
| Business Practices Act; the High Risk Home Loan Act is | 27 |
| recognized as one of the toughest state laws on predatory | 28 |
| lending in the nation; and
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| WHEREAS, Illinois law is intended to target abusive lending | 30 |
| practices and protect Illinois citizens with credit problems | 31 |
| who have taken out loans with higher fees and interest rates | 32 |
| than the fees and rates charged to people with better credit; |
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| and | 2 |
| WHEREAS, Lenders that make home loans to people with | 3 |
| fragile credit are lobbying Congress for federal rules that | 4 |
| could roll back the robust protections now available under | 5 |
| Illinois law; and
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| WHEREAS, Lenders have rallied behind the Responsible | 7 |
| Lending Act (H.R. 1295), legislation that would impose uniform | 8 |
| national regulations on the industry and, by preempting state | 9 |
| law, strip individual states of the ability to protect their | 10 |
| citizens from predatory lending practices; and
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| WHEREAS, While lenders argue that a uniform system of | 12 |
| federal regulation would allow them to better provide lending | 13 |
| products to a segment of the population that is in dire need of | 14 |
| specialized home ownership resources, the federal legislation | 15 |
| they support is merely an attempt to eliminate barriers to | 16 |
| predatory lending practices throughout the nation; in fact, the | 17 |
| Responsible Lending Act would reduce the number of Illinois | 18 |
| citizens protected under current law, override essential | 19 |
| protections in Illinois law prohibiting equity stripping, roll | 20 |
| back provisions of Illinois law that prohibit prepayment on | 21 |
| loans with interest rates above 8%, and damage the rights and | 22 |
| remedies of Illinois citizens with respect to foreclosure and | 23 |
| the right to rescind an abusive home loan; and
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| WHEREAS, The more consumer-friendly Prohibit Predatory | 25 |
| Lending Act (H.R. 1182) has also been introduced in Congress; | 26 |
| that legislation would not strip the states of their ability to | 27 |
| more stringently regulate predatory lenders and would provide | 28 |
| for additional protections for vulnerable borrowers, such as a | 29 |
| strict ban on pre-payment fees and on the home-equity stripping | 30 |
| practice of "flipping", in which lenders encourage borrowers to | 31 |
| refinance quickly, and a requirement for borrowers to get | 32 |
| counseling before signing contracts for higher-cost loans; and
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| WHEREAS, Illinois citizens deserve the right to vigorous | 2 |
| protection against abusive predatory lending practices; | 3 |
| therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 5 |
| NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 6 |
| we urge Congress to defeat the Responsible Lending Act and all | 7 |
| other proposals that would undermine Illinois predatory | 8 |
| lending laws and the important protections they provide; and be | 9 |
| it further
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| RESOLVED, That a copy of this resolution be presented to | 11 |
| the President pro tempore of the U.S. Senate, the Speaker of | 12 |
| the U.S. House of Representatives, and each member of the | 13 |
| Illinois congressional delegation.
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