This summer, Sandra Thompson, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (“FHFA”), announced, as part of her testimony to the House Financial Services Committee, that the FHFA would be undergoing a comprehensive...more
WHAT TO WATCH - Democrats are reportedly nearing a topline agreement on the Build Back Better Act, the legislative vehicle to advance much of President Biden’s social infrastructure agenda. President Biden provided an update...more
Late last week, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development issued its final order relating to claims of “disparate impact” under the Fair Housing Act. Under the theory of disparate impact, the Fair Housing Act can...more
What legislative activity can we expect in 2020 in the area of housing finance reform? With the Senate kicking off the New Year with an impeachment trial, it is highly unlikely Congress will make much headway on housing...more
The Situation: Reforming the U.S. housing finance system has been a frequent discussion topic in the years since the 2008 financial crisis. The Result: In response to a March 2019 presidential memorandum, the Department of...more
The prospect of the U.S. Congress acting on housing reform this year remains unlikely. The House Democrats’ determination to formalize the impeachment inquiry into President Trump’s involvement with Ukraine and begin public...more
Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) loans have attracted significant scrutiny from federal agencies and Congress in recent weeks. The Department of Treasury (the "Treasury") and Department of Housing and Urban Development...more
We continue to gauge the potential for Congress to act on the administration’s housing finance plan and/or pass their own before adjourning for the year. When Congress returned from August recess, members faced an ambitious...more
The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Department of Housing released the much-anticipated housing finance reform plan to reduce the government’s role in housing and end government control of both Fannie Mae and Freddie...more
The Washington State Housing Finance Commission (WSHFC) has released a report on transfer disputes in the low-income housing tax credit program....more
On October 3, 2017, the U.S. House of Representatives’ Financial Services Committee conducted a hearing on possible housing finance reform measures titled “Sustainable Housing Finance: An Update from the Director of the...more
Last week, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released its proposed amendments to the “Know Before You Owe” mortgage disclosure rule, commonly known as the Truth in Lending Act-Real Estate Settlement Procedures...more
Recently, the State of Florida passed the FY 2015-2016 budget which contained an appropriation of $175 million for the Sadowski Housing Trust Fund. This budget line item provides affordable housing developers with additional...more
As November draws closer, the financial services industry is staking out a front row seat in tracking the outcomes of the 2014 midterm elections. The 114th Congress’ legislative agenda in this area will be shaped in large...more
Prior to 2009, housing finance agencies (HFAs) financed nearly all of their single-family mortgage loans with tax-exempt bond financings. Over the past five years as rates on conventional mortgage loans fell and remained at...more
Efforts to address housing finance reform are starting to heat up, although the finish line is still probably a long way off. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac remain in conservatorship, even though they are making money, and the...more
Momentum in housing-finance reformation picked up speed last month as the House Financial Services Committee unveiled the proposed Housing Opportunities Move the Economy (HOME) Forward Act of 2014. The proposed HOME Forward...more
Following on the heels of last year’s bi-partisan “Housing Finance Reform and Taxpayer Protection Act of 2013”, which was introduced into the Senate by Senators Corker and Warner, a similar bill was recently introduced in the...more
This article provides a brief summary of the key provisions of a new bi-partisan Senate bill, based on the Housing Finance Reform and Taxpayer Protection Act of 2013, as well as a brief discussion of a new House of...more
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Johnson (D-SD) and Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-ID) recently released the highly anticipated text from their housing finance reform proposal. As expected, the 442-page proposal—officially...more
In This Issue: Leading the Past Week; Legislative Branch; Executive Branch; International; Miscellaneous; and Upcoming Hearings. Excerpt from Leading the Past Week - Before leaving for the Christmas...more
Two bills have emerged as dueling proposals to reform the GSEs: the Housing Finance Reform and Taxpayer Reform Act (the “Corker-Warner Bill”) in the Senate, and the Protecting American Taxpayers and Homeowners Act of 2013...more
In This Issue: Leading the Past Week; Legislative Branch; Executive Branch; and Upcoming Hearings. Excerpt from Leading the Past Week - Last week ended with a stronger than expected jobs report at plus...more
This summer has brought a wave of housing finance reform efforts in both chambers of Congress. Legislators are finally proposing ways to downsize and eliminate two housing finance giants – Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the...more
President Obama officially threw his support behind a bipartisan push to replace beleaguered housing giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac during a speech to an Arizona crowd on Tuesday....more