Dear Senator Merkley,

Thank you for making an amendment to include guidelines that already exist in the mortgage industry. I have highlighted in yellow, those areas you claim fame to that already exist (see below). These provisions you so thoughtfully created are fondly known as Section 32 of The Banking Law, which prohibit steering, cap the fees of high cost loans and prohibit receiving fees from third parties. There have also been two additional amendments already on the books which cover your wise rules. RESPA which requires all fees to be disclosed to the borrower (Good Faith Estimate) within 3 days of the lender receiving the loan application and an amendment to Truth in Lending Act (TILA) which prohibit and cap high cost loans as well as requiring full income verification and ability to pay -type underwriting. (I am not getting into the technical, because that is not the issue here.) So you see, these items are already on the books and are firmly used as underwriting and disclosure guidance by the entire industry. In fact, we are all really serious about transparency and disclosure- especially these days.

What you should be preaching is consumer responsibly, because where there is a will there is a way. If you want the candy bar, you will find the candy store and you cannot shut down every candy store in America- well because there is always Walmart! If you want the money to buy the house you cannot afford, well there is always Vito on the corner.