Mortgages face new rules

The Dodd-Frank financial-regulatory overhaul, which Democrats hope will win final Congressional approval this week, offers greater protections for consumers against riskier and more complicated types of home mortgages. But some in the industry warn the legislation also may lead to higher costs and fewer choices for consumers. “The kinds of mortgages you see today—fixed-rate loans [or] if it’s an adjustable rate, it’s pretty conservative in its terms—those are going to be the loans you see for a long time in the future,” said Glen Corso, managing director of the Community Mortgage Banking Project, which represents small, independent mortgage lenders. “There’s not going to be any room for experimentation or trotting out loans that have new features.”