Fiat Lux

This is just the beginning of more to come, if we're lucky:

[Massachusetts] state yesterday shut down seven mortgage brokers ... and banned a variety of deceptive lending practices in what regulators called a sweeping crackdown on rogue brokers who steer customers in poor urban neighborhoods to loans they cannot afford.

[snip]

Regulators have also gathered evidence of other abuses in the industry, including brokers discouraging homebuyers from hiring lawyers to scrutinize mortgage documents and persuading borrowers to sign blank loan applications. As a result, the division has adopted emergency, and permanent, regulations banning fraudulent practices, particularly scams that target poor consumers with limited English skills.

Here's hoping other states follow suit, and quickly. Like, say, two years ago.