Leaks concerning pending regulations used to be a way of life at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The place was a veritable sieve. A colander should have so many holes.

Not anymore, though. Now, mum's the word. And the cloud that shrouds HUD has mortgage industry interests more than a little nervous, especially since the agency is hard at work on what promises to be a massive restructuring of the entire lending process.

HUD "won't talk to us or consumer groups," said Rodrigo Alba, an ex-HUD attorney who is now director of regulatory affairs at the Mortgage Bankers Association.

It's not sharing with Congress, either, according to Paul Mondor, a partner in the Washington law firm of Lotstein Buckman, which represents a number of mortgage companies and whose lead partner, Robert Lotstein, serves as general counsel to the National Association of Mortgage Brokers.

Mondor, who had Alba's job before joining the Lotstein firm three years ago, used to be able to call HUD headquarters and obtain up-to-the-minute drafts on all manner of important issues. But that stopped when Mel Martinez, the former chief executive of Orange County, Fla., took over as secretary about 18 months ago.

"This department doesn't leak," he said. "HUD is tight-lipped now, and that's highly unusual."

Even top level HUD officials won't spill the beans. At the NAMB's Legislative Conference last month, mortgage brokers were hopeful Assistant Secretary John Weicher would fill them in on the Secretary's plan to make the lending process less complicated for consumers.

But no dice.

"I'm not going to talk about any proposal until it's out," Weicher, who doubles as FHA Commissioner, was overheard telling an association official. And when he took the dias, he stuck to his guns.

He was happy to once again lay out the principles that Sec. Martinez wants mortgage reform to follow -- disclosure should be early enough in the process so borrowers can still shop around, for one; rate and fee quotes should be firm so there are surprises at the closing table, for another.

But when asked for some details, he clammed up like a mobster being grilled by the FBI.

"I don't want to speak to speculation," the HUD official said. "When we come out with our plan, we will be speaking with one voice, and that will be the secretary's."

That's the way Mondor sees it, too. "The Secretary will make the final decisions." he said. "Beyond that, I don't know where this thing will come out."

Whatever happens, Rep. Michael Oxley, R-Ohio, chairman of the House Financial Services, is ready to tackle mortgage reform in general and consumer protection laws in particular.

Popular wisdom has it that Congress is unwilling to deal with either issue until a broad consensus can be developed, not only among warring industry and consumer factions, but also among splintered industry groups themselves.

But Rep. Oxley told NAMB that one of his goals as chair of the 70-member committee, the second largest in the House, is to re-write the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act "before I die or before I'm term-limited."

The Ohio solon, who described himself as a "recovering attorney who has attended my share of closings" and whose wife is a Realtor, said he can't speak for the Senate, which has yet to act on more than 50 bills that have been cleared by the lower chamber. But "there's a huge amount of support" for mortgage reform in the House.

"We think Sec. Martinez has set the right tone," he added. HUD's plan is expected to be made public early this summer.

Noting that RESPA was last amended during the Watergate era, at about the same time the nation's bankruptcy laws were last revisited, Rep. Oxley said that support for bankruptcy reform "gives me encouragement" that lawmakers are ready to follow up with a review of RESPA.

The committee chairman said rewriting the consumer protection statute "won't be easy."

"Any decision is automatically going to be attacked," he said. "If you're for less regulation and more disclosure, somehow you're anti-consumer.

"We've had to fight that time and time again, but I'm willing to take on the battle and so is the Bush Administration."

Published: May 1, 2002

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When Lew Sichelman first started writing about housing in 1969, he was the youngest real estate writer in the country. Now, 37 years later, he's one of the oldest -- and most decorated. He has been rated the top housing columnist in the country by the National Association of Realtors as well as by his peers in the National Association of Real Estate Editors. Indeed, NAREE has recognized his work on numerous occasions. One year - due to his advancing age, he can't recall which one - he earned top honors in the annual NAREE Journalism Contest in three out of the four major writing categories. It was the first time one writer has won so many NAREE awards in a single year. Known for his ability to make even the most difficult topics understandable, Sichelman also has been honored by the National Association of Home Builders and the Mortgage Bankers Association. He began providing in-depth coverage of and consumer-oriented information about housing and housing finance at the Washington Daily News, where he was real estate editor. He held that same position for nine more years at the Washington Star, which purchased the News in 1972. The Star, a so-called "writer's newspaper" which also had the misfortune of being an evening paper, was put out of its misery in 1981, and Sichelman, who had begun self-syndicating his column in 1978, decided to become a full-time columnist. Today, his column, "The Housing Scene," is distributed by United Media to newspapers throughout the country. He also is on the staff of National Mortgage News, an independent newspaper which is considered the bible of the mortgage business. And he writes for numerous other publications, including MarketWatch.com, where he answers readers questions once a week, Sports Illustrated (don't ask), RealtyTimes.com, BigBuilder and others. Sichelman is married, the father of five and grandfather of eleven.