James A. Leach: “I too want to benefit the homeowner and not the class-action lawyer. Because of some of the industry practices…”

“I too want to benefit the homeowner and not the class-action lawyer. Because of some of the industry practices concerning PMI, such as not providing borrowers sufficient information on how to terminate the insurance or requiring PMI long after it is needed, mortgage servicers and insurers are facing more and more lawsuits. This legislation will clarify what the responsibilities of market participants are concerning PMI. Without this legislation, in States which do not have State PMI laws, it will be the courts who will determine by judicial fiat the legal liability of the mortgage industry participants on an ad hoc basis. This bill provides more certainty to the law concerning a borrower's rights and PMI and thus is intended to make litigation less likely. Mortgage market players have expressed some concern that the provision of the bill requiring the conditions for terminating PMI be reasonably related to the requirements for private mortgage insurance may precipitate unnecessary litigation. This is not the intent of the committee.”