Senate bill would encourage more residential construction lending

Sens. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) and Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) introduced legislation in May to encourage residential construction lending. S. 1002, the Home Building Lending Improvement Act of 2013, would discourage lenders from calling construction loans whose payments are current and establish regulatory guidelines to allow the banking industry to restore lending for viable home building projects. The legislation to resolve ongoing credit problems for home builders is similar to House bill H.R. 1255, the Home Construction Lending Regulatory Improvement Act of 2013, which was introduced earlier this year.