{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://hultgren.house.gov//newsroom/press-releases/hultgren-leads-illinois-delegation-in-calling-for-eased-mortgage-lending-for", "Hultgren Leads Illinois Delegation in Calling for Eased Mortgage Lending for Underserved Areas", "2014-09-23", "2014", "2014-09", "Republican", "House", "IL", "Randy Hultgren", "H001059", "hultgren.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Washington, DC \u2013\u00a0U.S. Representatives Randy Hultgren (IL-14) and Bill Foster (IL-11), along with the entire Illinois delegation, this week sent a letter to ask that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ease regulations on mortgage lenders, specifically for Qualified Mortgage and Ability-to-Repay rules. \u00a0Specifically, the letter calls for a broader definition of the \u201cunderserved areas\u201d regulatory exception, which would make it easier for lenders to address areas in need, including rural and high poverty areas.\n\u201cThe CFPB\u2019s Qualified Mortgage rule restricts credit access for those who need it the most, especially in areas with insufficient banking options. The housing crisis made it clear that banks and credit unions should never be encouraged to make unaffordable loans, and that there should be certain regulations to protect consumers,\u201d said Rep. Hultgren. \u201cUnfortunately, these costly regulations often make it unaffordable for banks to lend to potential Illinois homeowners.\n\u201cThe entire Illinois delegation agrees: the CFPB should expand its \u2018underserved areas\u2019 exemption to their Qualified Mortgage rules. The CFPB has already committed to a further study of this issue. Our letter merely requests that this study consider a broader, bipartisan definition of \u2018underserved\u2019 that reflects how other financial regulators and federal agencies have approached this issue.\u201d\nThe letter:\n Urges the \u201cCFPB to consider more than the number of competitors in a county for the definition of \u2018underserved areas\u2019\u201d and to engage in \u201cfurther study of the existing definition of \u2018underserved area[s].\u201d\n\tExplains that \u201ccommunity financial institutions are most familiar with low-and moderate-income census tracts for purposes of the Community Reinvestment Act, and distressed and underserved nonmetropolitan middle-income geographies for Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council purposes.\u201d\n\tRequests that the CFPB also consider including in the expanded definition \u201ccounties with high poverty rates; qualified, distressed or highly distressed census tracts for New Market Tax Credit programs; high migration rural counties; and designated distressed areas by the Delta Regional Authority.\u201d\n The full letter is available here: https://hultgren.house.gov/sites/hultgren.house.gov/files/2014-09-19_Letter_CFPB_Mortgage_Lending_Unserved.pdf\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://hultgren.house.gov//newsroom/press-releases/hultgren-leads-illinois-delegation-in-calling-for-eased-mortgage-lending-for"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.068924019113183, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}