WASHINGTON -- The U.S. House Thursday approved a measure that would force mortgage lenders to retain a 5 percent stake in home loans that are sold to investors.

The bill alters financial conventions that held during the recent housing boom, when Wall Street bought and bundled risky loans and shifted 100 percent of the risk to investors.

Representative Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, has said the bill will help stabilize the housing finance system. But there is no companion legislation in the Senate, so its future is uncertain.

Other provisions of the bill would increase regulation of mortgage brokers and create new tests to determine whether homeowners benefit from mortgage refinancing.

The legislation would also help renters fight eviction when their landlords default on their mortgages.

On Wednesday, the Senate ratified the renter's rights provision, so that portion of the bill could move on a faster track than the rest of the legislation.