You remember the housing market meltdown a few years back, along with the ensuing taxpayer-funded bailout of large lending institutions. Well, in an effort to regulate the lending industry and protect the consumer/taxpayer, Congress established the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (Dodd-Frank Act). And many of its more ambitious new regulations will go into effect January 1, 2014.
The irony? Those changes may make it much more difficult for you to get a mortgage.