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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Fair Lending On The Line In Pennsylvania?

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Friday, December 13, 2013   

HARRISBURG, Pa. – With many Pennsylvania communities still reeling from the damage done by the housing meltdown comes legislation that could spell major trouble for current and future homeowners.

Craig Robbins, executive director of the citizens advocacy group ACTION United, says the Consumer Mortgage Choice Act would undermine a law set to take effect next month that ends hidden fees and points in mortgages, and limits fees to 3 percent.

"We really think that Congressman (Michael) Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) needs to make a decision here,” Robbins says. “Is he standing with the big banks, or is he going to stand with people of Pennsylvania and his district to ensure that we have fair loans and fair lending practices?"

During the housing meltdown, critics say tricks and traps for buyers generated more profits for lenders and their associates, which encouraged those involved in the loan process to steer borrowers into risky loans, no matter the borrower's ability to pay or even qualify for the loan amount.

Predatory lending connected to foreclosures gutted neighborhoods in Pennsylvania.

Robbins says the state cannot afford another economic hit like that.

"You would think we would've learned our lesson,” he stresses. “We need to have reforms, and that's partly what's been done here. Any effort to roll that back is just terrible."





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