FTC Testifies on Efforts to Protect Consumers in Subprime Mortgage Market
"The Federal Trade Commission testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation’s Subcommittee on Interstate Commerce, Trade, and Tourism, about the Commission’s continuing efforts to protect subprime mortgage borrowers.

The testimony described the agency’s priorities, including deceptive mortgage advertising, deceptive or unfair servicing practices, discrimination in lending, and foreclosure rescue scams, and it emphasized the following points:

* The Commission has been at the forefront of the fight against deceptive subprime lending and servicing practices since 1998, when it filed its case against Capital City Mortgage. The case alleged that the defendant took advantage of African-American consumers in Washington, D.C.

* In the past decade, the FTC has brought 22 actions in the mortgage lending industry, with particular attention to entities in the subprime markets. Through these cases, many of which have challenged deceptive advertising and marketing practices, the FTC has returned more than $320 million to consumers."