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FTC Steps Up Oversight Of Sub-Prime Mortgage Marketing

  • Ad Age, Wednesday, April 30, 2008 10:15 AM
The Federal Trade Commission will step up its oversight of marketing of sub-prime mortgages and related transactions, according to Lydia B. Parnes, the agency's director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection. She says staff is being shifted to help the agency devote more attention to the financial area.

"For the past several months we have been questioning ourselves on whether we could have done more," Parnes testified before a panel of the Senate Commerce Committee on Tuesday. The FTC doesn't regulate federally chartered banks that make mortgage loans, but it does regulate advertising and marketing by mortgage brokers and companies that advertise aid to borrowers.

Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., has offered legislation to expand the FTC's authority to the banking and telecommunications areas, giving it new ability to issue fines and making it easier for the FTC to issue regulations. He says that much of the-sub prime woes stem from regulators failure to regulate.

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