Often times financial services legislation results in unintended consequences in the marketplace. This bill has the potential to seriously restrict access to credit for millions of Americans looking to purchase a home or refinance their mortgage.

I believe exposing players in the secondary mortgage market to legal liability is a serious mistake. The ability to securitize and distribute mortgages throughout our capital markets has been a major contributor to the success experienced in the housing sector in recent history. It has spread risk around the world and provided millions of Americans with the financing necessary to purchase their own home.

I believe the consumer is in the best position to determine which product is in his best interest. By increasing the options available and increasing effective disclosures, we would be enabling consumers.

Instead of helping homeowners facing foreclosure, this legislation will benefit a small group of trial lawyers. In its present form, a borrower will have the ability to recover all of the principal and interest paid over the history of the loan, as long as he can convince a court that he didn't have "a reasonable ability to repay" the loan. It is not hard to imagine how language such as this could be abused in our court system."