Predatory Lending Legislation On Hold In Senate: Dodd

Predatory lending legislation passed in the House last week will have to get in line in the Senate, Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) said Tuesday.

"We'll get to that at some point," said Dodd, chairman of the Senate banking committee. "We've got a lot on our plate. We've got other things to do."

The issue is less than pressing for Dodd, he said, because the credit crunch has dried up predatory and subprime lending. Problems that are currently ongoing need to be addressed first, he said -- such as broad financial regulatory reform, a rescue of the auto industry, and oversight of the Wall Street bailout.

"There's a greater sense of urgency I have about those issues than a non-existing problem today," he said. "There isn't a lot of predatory lending going on right now. There's very little subprime lending, so while it would certainly plug a hole for what happened before, there's other, I'm sorry, there are other issues I'm grappling with that are current issues. And I'm not minimizing what happened before, and I don't want to see a repetition of it, but there's not subprime lending going on today."

The House can move legislation quickly with a majority vote, but the Senate requires 60 votes to end obstruction from the minority. "I get envious of that process," said Dodd of the House. Predatory lending "will be a controversial bill. So you need time to work that and listen to your colleagues. I'll eventually get to it."

Dodd suggested the best way to move the predatory lending bill may be to combine it with a broader overhaul of the financial regulatory regime. "I may have to deal with it in a larger bill," he said.

Comments

[schatsie]

I also want ALL INCOMESUBJECT TO INCOME TAX RATES...

Why in the sam hill should Bill Gates get 98% of his compensation sheltered from income taxes? and it is not even taxed until he sells it and then he 'gives it to a foundation that has no clue about autism or alzheimers the epidemics that cost this country hundreds of billions..­..

[schatsie]

This is nuts, anyone paying over 12% in a zero inflation market and in fear of loosing their job should be writing to Congress..­. Of course if you are rich, you write off the expenses and the interest as so called business expenses,,, but the working slobs are supposed to keep sucking it up....

Darn it all, put in an 18 month moritorium on interest rates capping them at 12% for cards, 8% for cars and 6% for mortgages.­. and make them tax deductible at 28% after standard deductions and expenses..­.. DARN IT ALL, I WANT A REAL TAX CUT for the WORKING SLOBS like me....

[PhilipTaylor]

DODD is corrupt and Owned by Wall Street with over 50% of his funds coming from Banking!

[1differentdrummer]

We're waiting and watching.

[dadw5boys]

FORGIEN INVESTORS WHO ARE BUYING U.S. DEBT COULD BE PUSH AWAY IF THE LAWS PAST ARE NOT WORDED JUST RIGHT .

OK, GOT IT.

These forgien investors pull out and Bush wins the USA goes into a depression !!!!!!!

.

[The Ghost]

tool.

[stell]

Hopefully this would address the alleged institutional racism by companies like Wells Fargo, and HSBC who steered blacks with the same credit rating and down payment into sub-prime loans, when compared to standard rates for whites.

[strangelet]

Folks, the predatory lending bill he's talking about deals with REAL ESTATE loans. Not credit cards, not payday loans, etc. Admittedly, those are predatory, but they are not the subject of the bill. Dodd is definitely not Senator Perfect, but in this case he's right.

[ncmom54]

pathetic

[cjt1957]

He has to make some more money from those he regulates first....

[falco]

He's waiting for the people to bribe him. Nothing was forthcoming. On to the next thing.

[Citizen54]

This man is so blatantly in the tank it's almost funny. Wasn't part of this legislation supposed to deal with credit card policies? (Certainly an ongoing form of predatory lending.) Wasn't this man just a couple weeks ago on this very site talking about how unfair practices of credit card companies had to be curtailed? What happened between then and now to turn the subject from a priority into a trivial matter that won't fit on the Senate's chock-full plate?

Thanks to Ryan G for staying on this story.

[herointheend]

Too busy? For this? I'm a Democrat, and Chris Dodd makes sense most of the time (when he's not lying), but this is outrageous. The banking industry owns Congress. Democrats, Republicans, liberals, conservatives. Sad, but true.

[frustratedhonestyfreak]

This makes me sick. My interest rate from Bank of America just went from 16.95 to 29.99. Not predatory? And no, I was not late with a payment. Last time this happened I was one day late and it was their fault, although not admitted. The banks are goudging us. The helpless, at their mercy feeling I have is debilitating. And Dodd is pushing this aside? I don't know what excuse they are using this time to up my rate but it doesn't matter. I always pay, have had this account for almost 20 years. It was originally MBNA but BOA bought them. BOA is incorrigible. We need the guy we elected to bring change. And if Dodd is in the bankers' pockets, we need to change him. His father would not be proud.

[tds1273]

Dodd talks a good game on the civil liberties front, but when it gets into the financials and the people vs the banks, he shows he really cares no more for us than the worst of the warmongering neo-cons.