Big Banks and Congress' impending legislation Part III

History repeats itself. For 3 years, Congress has denied banking conglomerates request to manage and sell realty under the 1999 Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. In a nutshell this act serves to protect the financial privacy of consumers. However there is a fear that if banks were allowed to continue offering a full suite of services– including real estate services, would result in a conflict of interest for the consumer who would then be more likely to take out high risk, interest-only loans. This consolidation of services would cause a net loss in consumer protections but Congress is certainly taking an active stance against this. It remains to be seen how these new rulings will affect bank foreclosed homes for sale in the future.