Congressman Barney Frank Speaks at H. Pearce Quarterly Meeting

North Haven (August 2011) – President and CEO of the H. Pearce Real Estate Company, Barbara L. Pearce, would like to thank Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro for inviting Congressman Barney Frank to speak to Realtors and financial professionals at the University of New Haven on Thursday, June 30th. The U.S. Representative for Massachusetts’ Fourth District, and co-author of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, addressed a packed room.

The meeting began with a speech from Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, U.S. Representative for Connecticut’s Third District. DeLauro had previously been the keynote speaker at H. Pearce Company’s annual meeting in April. She explained how a conversation between herself and Barbara Pearce led to the invitation of Barney Frank to the meeting, as employees of the company were unsure of what the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act entailed. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act was a 2,000 page law, signed into effect July 2010, aiming to regulate financial agencies nationwide.

Congressman Joe Courtney, U.S. Representative for Connecticut’s Second District, also spoke. Courtney spoke in favor of the bill, citing the need for economic transparency in order for the market to stay stable.

Frank described the economic climate that led to his proposal of the bill in 2009, mentioning how American society’s innovation got too far ahead of the framework of rules initially implemented by the public sector. According to Frank, the rules never adapted over the past 30 years as the private sector vastly grew. This was specifically highlighted by the banking industry’s newfound competition with non-regulated entities that allowed greater loan requests.
From January 2007 to January 2011, Frank chaired the House Financial Services Committee and his high ranking enabled him to gain support for the bill. Frank said the legislation could have actually used $2 billion in federal funding to help those in danger of foreclosing. However, he feels partisan politics prevented the bill from reaching its full potential, so the proposal was cut in half to $1 billion.

After Frank completed his assessment of the bill, he led a question and answer session with the conference’s attendees. Concerns ranged from the S.A.F.E. Mortgaging License Act of 2008 to the possibility of subsidization for Realtors. Frank said the House has defeated all efforts to provide subsidies, but added that it is an issue he will continue to push in Congress, along with housing consolidation concerns.

To close the meeting, Pearce thanked all three officials for coming to clarify many questions the Realtors and bankers had involving the future of their industries.