With foreclosures rising and regulators eyeing subprime loans as the primary cause, mortgage brokers are calling for an independent government inquiry to determine all the factors contributing to the problem, according to InmanNews.com (subscription required).

Here’s a snip from Joseph Falk, a longtime south Florida broker:

“Before you rush to the judgment that brokers are placing consumers in bad loans and before we impose ’suitability’ standards, we have to know the cause of problem. Although the consumer advocates blame industry for inappropriate activity, it’s time to study and see (the real) causal factors.”

According to the article, it is widely predicted that as many as 20 percent of all subprime loans funded over the past two years will wind up in foreclosure.

It’s a huge problem that lawmakers and regulators are looking to solve.

If loan requirements are tightened, it would “force lenders to ask more questions and make more disclosures, factoring in such eventualities as tax consequences, income forecasts, the borrower’s resale plans, and whether their debt loads are likely to increase.

Whichever path is taken, this is an issue that needs to be resolved as soon as possible to ensure that more homeowners don’t fall into foreclosure.

We’ll continue to monitor this situation as it happens.