Henry Paulson Discusses Hosuing Market

During a meeting today about the housing market Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson warned that the housing correction will continue to hurt the US economy and financial markets for some time. He also asked for assistance from public private partnerships to address the issues in the mortgage industry that brought on this credit crisis.

Paulson identifies four primary problems that need to be addressed, disclosure, origination, predatory lending, and liability. He stated that home owners should receive a single page at closing that states the borrower’s financial responsibility in black and white, rather than them having to dig through pages of documents to find this out.

He said that the origination process should be more streamlined so borrowers know who to go to when they fall behind on their mortgage. Although he cautioned Congress against over regulating the mortgage industry. “This is a difficult balance to achieve because each lending determination is relatively unique based on thedifferent facts and circumstances associated with each borrower,” Paulson said. “Balance is critically important. Congress should proceed with extreme caution so as to avoid cutting off investment flows to the housing market.”

To read more about Paulson: Housing to Remain Drag on Economy head on over to CNBC.