U.S. housing regulator issues home sale rules

WASHINGTON, Nov 12 (Reuters) - The chief U.S. housing agency issued disclosure rules for home buyers on Wednesday aimed at protecting consumers from hidden costs in home loans.

The Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act sets disclosure requirements for lenders and mortgage brokers when new home purchases are finalized.

The reforms require that lenders and brokers give prospective home buyers a standardized, three-page estimate of loan costs that regulators hope will save consumers nearly $700 on a transaction.

"It has been a long road but today we can finally announce a better way to buy homes in America," said Steve Preston, the head of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The new rules represent the first major overhaul of the 1974 consumer protection act and regulators were flooded with over 12,000 letters from the housing industry on how best to reform the current system.

Many industry leaders criticized the new disclosure documents as being too cumbersome and said it would complicate the closing process. HUD officials, though, insisted that the loan disclosure process needed to be simplified. (Reporting by Patrick Rucker; Editing by Kenneth Barry)