Rep. Ney Seeks Override of State Predatory Lending Laws.

Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, the new chairman of the House Financial Services subcommittee on housing, plans to make a big push to pass a predatory lending bill that provides consumer protections and pre-empts state predatory lending laws.

"Are we going to give it a 150% effort? We sure are," Rep. Ney told a National Association of Affordable Housing Lenders conference.

The Ohio congressman noted that a pre-emption is necessary to override state and local predatory lending laws that are restricting the availability of credit.

"You just can't pass so many rules and regulations as Georgia did," he said, where "it backfires and people can't get housing."

His predatory lending bill is still being drafted and he trying to round up Republican and Democratic lawmakers to co-sponsor the bill before it is introduced.

Rep. Ney enjoys strong support within the lending industry for his efforts, but he is going to face a serious challenge from Democrats on the housing subcommittee.

In addressing the NAAHL conference, Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., said the Democrats will be working on an alternative predatory lending bill that does not provide for a federal pre-emption and will restrict the use of mandatory arbitration.