An "Unusual" Coalition Reassembles

Recent media reports have remarked on the development of an unusual coalition - lenders, consumer groups and low-income housing advocates - formed to oppose the requirements for a high quality mortgage originally proposed by the federal bank and securities regulators under the Dodd-Frank Act. The principal issue seems to be the 20 percent downpayment requirement for a low-risk mortgage. Members of the coalition were quoted as saying that this would freeze many buyers out of the housing market.