Kessler mortgage reform bills advance to full House

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
State Rep. David Kessler D-Berks
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Kessler mortgage reform bills advance to full House

HARRISBURG, April 22 – Two mortgage reform bills introduced by state Rep. David Kessler, D-Berks, were approved by the House Commerce Committee today and advanced to the full House of Representatives.

The bills are intended to protect consumers against situations such as the PFM mortgage scandal that severely affected Kessler's district.

"The PFM scandal has had a devastating impact on many Berks County homeowners. We have to do all we can to ensure that this never happens again," Kessler said.

One of Kessler's reform bills (H.B. 986) would prohibit a mortgage broker or originator from being the exclusive recipient of communications to a consumer, such as a mortgage payment invoice or 1096 interest statement. The bill would ensure that consumers are informed of the terms of their mortgage, and it would prevent brokers from withholding information about interest rates, fees or monthly payments.

Kessler's second reform bill (H.B. 985) would help to prevent fraud by protecting mortgage broker and mortgage company employees who report a violation of any law or take part in an investigation, hearing or inquiry. The legislation would prevent an employer from taking actions such as reducing an employee's salary or benefits, changing the terms of employment or firing an employee for one of those protected activities. Currently, those protections only apply to these employees when they report a violation of the state Banking Code, but not if they report a violation of other law.

"By expanding these protections, we would create a banking system that we can trust in and hopefully could be used to expose future banking problems," Kessler said.

Kessler has worked with state Sen. Mike Brubaker, R-Lancaster/Chester, on the legislation.

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