Community Forum: Reader investigates letter's statements
To the editor:
I just read the opinion piece by Donnie Thompson concerning H.R. 1728 and its effects on property rights. He says that this bill that has passed the House and is being considered in the Senate prevents individuals from selling their property
through owner financing more than once every three years.
As someone who once benefited from owner-financing in buying a home, this caught my attention and I further investigated. The actual bill is entitled Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act. The section that Mr. Thompson refers to actually says that the bill does not include persons who provide mortgage financing for the sale of one property every 36-month period provided that the mortgage is fully amortized, a good faith effort to determine the buyer’s ability to repay the loan and
has fair credit disclosures. It doesn’t prevent people from selling their property or even selling more than one property every 36 months. It would require meeting the requirements of the bill designed to prevent mortgage abuse and predatory lending.
Using inflammatory and misleading language such as “will make you a criminal” and “if two notes go into default within the three-year period, the investor could only resell one property with owner financing” serves only to distort and confuse the question: Should this provision be taken out of the bill? I am leaning on yes to that question, but then I ask myself, who sells more than 1 property in a 36-month period? Is this person an investor and therefore in business?
Most of the arguments for killing this provision refer to the seller as an investor. Maybe it is not as big a problem as it seems.
Susan Lassiter-Lyons in The Investor Insights (http://theinvestorinsights.com/house-bill-1728-the-death-of-seller-financing/) says, “I personally believe that even if it passes it won’t be the death of seller financing. It just means that there will be some guidelines put in place about the type of financing we can offer (30-year fully amortizing and no balloons), the disclosures that are required (you should be using them already) and the ability of the borrower to repay (always a good idea).
“Also, if you live in certain states you may be required to get a mortgage broker’s license if you make mortgage loans as part of your real estate investing business. The investors that are doing business the right way won’t be affected that much. The ones that aren’t will need to get their act together and that makes it better for all of us.”
John McCabe,
Harlingen
___
DROP US A LINE
Your opinion is important to us. Please keep your letters to the Community Forum concise and to the point. Preference will be given to short letters. Longer submissions may be published as Another View columns. All submissions must be signed and include a home address and phone number for verification purposes. We reserve the right to edit for clarity and length. We do not use the Community Forum to address consumer complaints.
By mail:
Opinion Editor
Valley Morning Star
1310 S. Commerce
Harlingen TX 78550
By Fax:
956-430-6233
By E-mail:
letters@valleystar.com
