Inman News Service is reporting that the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee has again approved a ban on banks entering the real estate business.
The real estate industry has been lobbying hard for years to keep the big guys out of their industry.
Mainstream banks, with their vast resources and enormous base of existing customers, would be ideally placed to enter the real estate industry. The National Association of Realtors has been arguing that the large companies would have an unfair advantage in the marketplace, Inman reports. The banking industry, on the other hand, has argued that increased competition is always good for the consumer.
The National Association of Realtors has apparently been winning the lobbying war, because on June 14, according to Inman, the Senate approved a one-year ban on banks entering the industry.
According to the report Inman have posted on their site:
“Last year, House and Senate appropriations conferees agreed to the Senate permanent ban prohibition provision until the House Leadership insisted on its removal during the final hours of the conference,” stated Mary L. Trupo, public issues director for the Realtor group. The full Senate may consider the latest proposed ban in late September or later, according to Trupo.