Bruce Hahn

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• Manage |RSSThe Great MLS Debate --

American Homeowners Grassroots Alliance Re: "I'm confused, exactly what has this administration done to "stop anti-competitive practices?" The FTC and/or Dept. of Justice have successfully overturned state regs. that would deny home buyers the ability to receive commission rebates or eliminate flat fee "list only" brokers. They have helped us convince state legislatures not to pass legislation that would achieve the same results in several instances. DoJ also forced NAR to back down from industry regs that would constrain consumer choices.

American Homeowners Grassroots Alliance Its very, very sad that it has come to this, but the liklihood that there will be a total collapse of financial markets without intervention is very real. To those of us old enough to remember our parents' stories about the suffering during the Depression that is very scary. We had hoped that various previous initiatives to break the freefall in housing values would have provided a soft landing. In the end they weren't enough, and the continued erosion in the value of mortgage-based financial instruments is the primary cause of this financial mess. All of us will be paying for irresponsible lending practices for years to come. Most of the time markets can and do self correct without serious consequences and a need for intervention. This is an exception, and Congress will need to take further action to protect both society and lenders themselves from repeating this debacle again in the future.

American Homeowners Grassroots Alliance The Administration deserves credit for supporting HUD's RESPA reforms against the lobbying pressures of lenders and others, and for pushing GSE reforms against opposition from Congress. They also deserve much credit for supporting the Justice Department's and the FTC's efforts to stop anticompetitive practices in the real estate services sector at the national, state and local levels. It's a shame that the good work on these issues has been far overshadowed by the dire consequences of the Administration's failure to recognize the growing threat of the subprime mortgage meltdown early on, and utilize regulatory tools at its disposal to stop many of the lending practices that were its primary cause.