Peter Swire: Homeowners are consumers, too

  Press reports this week note that financial regulators are split about whether and how to create new consumer protection rules for mortgage servicers—those companies that collect monthly mortgage payments from homeowners and forward the payments to investors in those mortgages. The debate also prompted 52 prominent economists and industry experts this week to write an open letter to federal regulators calling for new national standards for mortgage servicing. That key recommendation in the open letter is correct—reforms are badly needed in this area.