Improved mortgage disclosure to consumers is an important goal everyone can agree on--especially in the wake of the subprime mortgage bust, in which many defaulting borrowers appear not to have understood the obligations they were undertaking. A good mortgage finance system requires that borrowers understand how the loan will work, including interest rate increases and prepayment penalties, and how much of their monthly income it will demand. The key information should be simply stated and clear, but current American mortgage loan documents are far from clear, and past regulatory efforts to insure detailed disclosure appear to have made things even more confusing.

Most of us have experienced being overwhelmed and befuddled by the huge stack of documents in confusing language and in small type presented to us for signature at a mortgage closing. Key information relevant to the mortgage should be stated in a clear and simple way. Why is this so hard to achieve? Could it be done in a one-page document? Conference participants will discuss the possibility of equipping borrowers to protect themselves by requiring short, simple, and clear disclosures of the key mortgage loan terms and their relation to household income.