Rep.Frank Wants Answers on Jumbo Loan Inaction (CNNMoney)

Rep. Frank asks mortgage industry for answers on inaction following new jumbo loan standards.

NEW YORK (Associated Press) - A key House lawmaker on Monday complained that the mortgage industry has done little over the past month to make higher-value loans available in costly housing markets after Congress took steps to try to infuse more cash into the so-called jumbo market.

{xtypo_quote_left} "There is a chain of people blaming each other, and we're going to call everybody in there into the hearing and find out why," Frank said. {/xtypo_quote_left} 

Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., said Monday that the House Financial Services Committee that he chairs will hold a May 21 hearing to try to find out why so-called jumbo mortgages remain difficult to get and continue to carry high interest rates, despite new rules that took effect April 1. Frank will try to get answers from mortgage bankers, Wall Street financiers and government-sponsored mortgage firms Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

"I am disappointed," Frank said in response to an audience question after a speech to a Mortgage Bankers Association convention. "We fought very hard to raise the loan limits for Fannie and Freddie, and there have been a lot of problems in implementation."

Frank said he called the hearing to "try to unstick" loans made under the new rules covering jumbo mortgages.

"There is a chain of people blaming each other, and we're going to call everybody in there into the hearing and find out why," Frank said.

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