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Congress is currently debating your ability to obtain mortgage financing in the future.

I'm writing to let you know a few things about H.R. 3915 - a newly introduced piece of legislation that has just been passed in the House and will be on the Senate floor in the coming days.

Commonly referred to as the "Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act of 2007," this Bill is attempting to make sweeping changes to the way the mortgage market operates.

Here's what it would mean for borrowers if the Bill were to pass as currently drafted:

• Refinancing transactions would become more difficult and potentially expensive;
• Discriminate against borrowers who have had poor credit histories from getting loans that they might otherwise deserve to get;
• Complicate the loan process for many borrowers as it would eliminate reduced documentation options such as "Stated Income" or "Low Documentation" loans.

Some of the changes proposed by the Bill are positive and intended to protect consumers. For example, the Bill proposes a licensing program and national registry that would track the activity of every originator, both mortgage broker and direct banker lender, in the country. This would allow for bad loans to be traced back to the originator and corrective action to be taken. Believe it or not, unlike myself, there are MANY loan officers who are not licensed or continuously educated in the mortgage field.