The House Financial Services’ Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government Sponsored Enterprises this week approved a mark-up of H.R. 940, “the U.S. Covered Bond Act of 2011.” The mark-up was approved by a voice vote, including two amendments, and is scheduled to receive consideration by the...
Following last week’s lengthy and at times contentious markup session where then House Financial Services Capital Markets and GSE Subcommittee pushed through a package of eight bills to bolster oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, industry observers are still working to get their arms around...
Federally regulated banks and credit unions favor Republican-backed legislation that would install a commission, instead of a single director, to call the shots at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The majority of witnesses at a recent hearing called by the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit expressed their support for...
The Department of Housing and Urban Affairs has declared April Fair Housing Month as it launched a nationwide media campaign to commemorate the Fair Housing Act. The Fair Housing Act was enacted 43 years ago this April to protect minorities and other groups from housing discrimination. The FHAct prohibits...
Congress explicitly exempted FHA and Department of Veterans Affairs loans from the definition of “qualified residential mortgage” in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. While those government loans will not be subject to the risk-retention requirements for mortgage securitizations, the proposed QRM safe harbor for... [Includes one graph]
The package of government-sponsored enterprise reform legislation introduced into the House Financial Services Committee last week dominated headlines, but sources on Capitol Hill said forthcoming legislation will also aim to tighten FHA underwriting in some manner, continuing to protect the program’s...
The decline in high-cost conforming loan limits set to occur later this year will affect a small fraction of the more than 300,000 counties in the U.S., according to an analysis released last week by the Federal Housing Finance Agency. However, concerns remain that the non-agency sector will not adequately serve...
Non-agency mortgage-backed securities investors do not have enough confidence to allow for accelerated reform of the government-sponsored enterprises, according to Michael Berman, chairman of the Mortgage Bankers Association. “The key is the private markets have spoken that they don’t have confidence,” Berman said last week in...
The mortgage industry scored a victory recently after a Michigan jury issued a unanimous verdict for Quicken Loans in an overtime lawsuit that has been pending since May 2004. The jury in Henry v. Quicken Loans vindicated the lender after finding that the company had fully complied...
Virginia. The state assembly passed legislation on March 15 expanding the acceptance of electronic signatures in the state. The new law provides that financial disclosure forms, lobbyist registration statements and notary applications for recommission may be signed...
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