The Washington Post Saturday, May 16, 1987' E7  
Maryland state banking regulators and representatives of the mortgage industry, in a rare show of public agreement, this week stepped up their campaign against lenders who do not honor interest rates on home loans offered to consumers.</br></br>ÛÏRight now we have [lenders] who are in violation of the law," said William A. Fogle Jr., secretary of MarylandÛªs Department of Licensing and Regulation. ÛÏIf we have to hit people in the pocketbook, weÛªH do that.Û FogleÛªs department includes two agencies that oversee the stateÛªs mortgage lenders and brokers.</br></br>In a joint news conference with leaders from the mortgage industry, Fogle said his agency is "aggressivelyÛ trying to resolve complaints his office has received from borrowers who lost out on their loan commitments. During the past month, more than 2,000 irate consumers have taken their wrath to FogleÛªs agencies. Last week alone, the agencies received an average of 30 calls an hour from borrowers.</br></br>Fogle stopped short, however, of proposing any regulatory steps to deal with what his press spokesman called "a full-fledged crisis.Û Last year, officials from the state bank commissionerÛªs office said they were planning a "complete rewriteÛ of MarylandÛªs mortgage regulations to deal with the problem of consumers losing out on guaranteed, or locked-in, home loan interest rates.</br></br>However, under the administration of Gov. William Donald Schaefer (D), characterized as probusiness and disinterested in new regulations, changes to MarylandÛªs mortgage rules have been put on hold. ÛÏIf it takes additional rules and regulations, weÛªll create those. But I think we have enough right now,Û Fogle said. He added that members of the mortgage industry has ÛÏa responsibility to police themselves.Û With talk of possible federal legislation being offered in the next several weeks to deal with the lock-in rate situation, lenders have begun their own public relations campaign to stave off the storm of protests.