Mortgage 'Reform' Is Just a Small Step Forward

Mammoth would require every first-time homeowner to go through mandatory housing counseling before they could get a mortgage. You have to pass a test to drive a car.

Mammoth would be developing a new worksheet as part of the mortgage application process that would look at all the current monthly expenses of a prospective borrower. Preapproved applicants would have to list regular monthly living expenses such as child care, cellphone and health-care costs to see whether the loan would take up more than 38 percent of the family's monthly net income. Although the mortgage applicants might still technically qualify for the loan, at least they would have been walked through a realistic exercise to determine the true affordability of the mortgage they're applying for.

The new standardized good-faith estimate is just a start to the real overhaul needed in how loans are sold.

HUD should push for so much more. And if Preston can't do it, President-elect Barack Obama should appoint someone to oversee HUD who would come across as Attila the Hun.

If there was ever a time we could truly get mammoth reform, it's now.

· On the air: Michelle Singletary discusses personal finance Tuesdays on NPR's "Day to Day" program and at http://www.npr.org.

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