HUD is About to Finalize a New RESPA Rule

HUD’s new rule will have a devastating effect on the mortgage broker industry. Here are a few of the proposed changes:

• Changing GFEs
• HUD-1s
• Requiring mortgage brokers to guarantee third-party fees
• Requiring mortgage brokers to provide a free rate and program locks
• And many more regulations that will hurt the industry and consumers

Only mortgage brokers are required to show YSP/Rebate.

Consumers will face more confusion, more forms and higher costs to obtain a mortgage.

HUD must hear from you! TIME IS RUNNING OUT!

CAMB is making it easy for you to know what you need to know and what you need to do. Register for a free Webinar to learn what you can and must do to protect our industry and the service we provide consumers.

The Webinar will last approximately 30 minutes – you will be provided with all the information needed to reply to HUD. If you can’t spend 30 minutes on a Webinar, please use the time to polish your resume. The job you save may be your own.

Webinar Schedule*
Wednesday, June 4 at 9:30 a.m.
Thursday, June 5 at 9:30 a.m.
Friday, June 6 at 9:30 a.m.
Monday, June 9 at 9:30 a.m. & 2:30 p.m.
Wednesday, June 11 at 9:30 a.m. & 2:30 p.m.
Thursday, June 12 at 9:30 a.m. & 2:30 p.m.

*All Webinar times are Pacific Daylight Time(PDT).

Stop HUD’s proposed new RESPA rule.

The more people HUD hears from, the more pressure they will have not to finalize their rule. Time is running out.  Your voice is needed. Take action.

Help Us Help You in This Fight!
Click here to contribute to the CAMB Legislative Fund that provides support to our Government Affairs’ efforts.

Join CAMB and join your industry in a united front against regulations that could put you out of business!Join online or download the membership application.

For more information about this issue or about CAMB’s Government Affairs efforts, contact the Government Affairs team at (916) 448-8236 .

The House Passes a Comprehensive Housing Package

Dear CAMB Members,

In an effort to help you keep your finger on the pulse of legislation that impacts your clients and you, we're forwarding this press release from the House Committee on Financial Services regarding the passage of its "Foreclosure Prevention Act", H.R. 3221 yesterday. The bill will now need to be reconciled with the Senate's housing stimulus proposal. Chairman Barney Frank has said he would like to have a bill to the President's desk by June. Keep fighting for your clients, and we'll keep fighting for legislation that protects both of you! Sincerely,

Ed Smith, Jr., Vice-President of Government Affairs & Industry Relations
George Duarte CMC, Regional Vice-Chair
Ted Grose CMC, Regional Vice-Chair
Cory Reid CMC, Regional Vice-Chair
Tom Borcich, Regional Vice-Chair

House Committee on Financial Services, Congressman Barney Frank, Chairman
For Immediate Release: May 8, 2008

House Passes Comprehensive Housing Package Washington, DC - The U.S. House of Representatives today passed the most comprehensive response yet to the American mortgage crisis. The American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act (H.R. 3221) responds directly to the current crisis facing middle class Americans while providing the tools to prevent a repeat of these problems. The legislation combines a number of bipartisan bills including measures to modernize the FHA and reform the GSEs, which will provide crucial liquidity to our mortgage markets now, and also strengthen regulation and oversight for the future. In addition, the housing package will help families facing foreclosure keep their homes, help other families avoid foreclosures in the future, and help the recovery of communities harmed by empty homes caught in the foreclosure process.
 
For more information about H.R.3221 .
 
Summary of H.R. 3221, the American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act:
 Amendment 1:FHA Housing Stabilization and Homeownership Retention Act (H.R. 5830)

• Provides mortgage refinancing assistance to keep families from losing their homes, protect neighboring home values, and help stabilize the housing market.
  
• Expands the FHA program so many borrowers in danger of losing their home can refinance into lower-cost government -insured mortgages they can afford to repay. This legislation will help troubled borrowers avoid foreclosure while minimizing taxpayer exposure.
  
• Only primary residences are eligible: NO speculators, investment properties, second or third homes will be refinanced.
  
• Protects taxpayers by requiring lenders and homeowners to take responsibility. This is not a bailout; in order to participate, lenders and mortgage investors must take significant losses by reducing the loan principal. In exchange for an FHA guarantee on the mortgage, borrowers must share any profit from the resale of a refinanced home with the government.
  
• Contains important protections for taxpayers' dollars, including higher refinancing fees that establish a new FHA reserve to cover possible losses from defaults on these government-backed mortgages.
  
• Provides $230 million for financial counseling to help families stay in their homes.
   
  

FHA Modernization (H.R. 1852)

• Expands affordable mortgage loan opportunities for families (many of whom would otherwise turn to subprime lenders) and for seniors through expanded access to reverse mortgages through Federal Housing Administration reform
  
• This measure passed the House in September. (Expanding American Homeownership Act of 2007, H.R.1852)
   
  

GSE Reform (H.R. 1427)

• Strengthens regulation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan Bank system.
• Raises the GSE loan limits for single family homes in high cost areas, so that these entities can purchase more loans in higher cost areas (thereby lowering interest rates for new homes and refinancings in those areas).
• Expands liquidity in the mortgage markets by buying loans already made, freeing up money for new mortgages and refinances.
  
• Creates a new Fund to boost the nation's stock of affordable rental housing.
   

Encouraging Mortgage Modifications/Castle Bill (H.R. 5579)

• Mortgage servicers are concerned about the threat of investor lawsuits if they help families in danger of losing their homes with loan modifications that reduce monthly mortgage payments through lower interest rates, reduced principal amounts or other changes in loan terms.
  
• To speed loan modifications and keep more families in their homes, this package includes HR 5579 to provide mortgage servicers with clarity and certainty for their actions, and protection from such lawsuits for specified loan modifications.

Preserving the American Dream for Our Nation's Veterans

• Increases VA Home Loan limit, as was done in the stimulus package, for high-cost housing areas so that veterans have more homeownership opportunities.

Amendment 2-- Tax Provisions to Expand Refinancing Opportunities and Spur Home Buying (H.R. 5720): This amendment provides $11 billion in tax benefits, including tax credits to first-time homebuyers, a real property tax deduction for non-itemizers, an additional $10 billion in mortgage revenue bonds for states, and improves access to low-income housing.

• Gives first-time homebuyers a refundable tax credit that works like an interest-free loan of up to $7,500 (to be paid back over 15 years) to spur home buying and stabilize the market. The credit will begin to phase out for taxpayers with adjusted gross income in excess of $70,000 ($140,000 in the case of a joint return).
  
• Provides taxpayers that claim the standard deduction with up to an additional $350 ($700for a joint return) standard deduction for property taxes in 2008.
  
• Temporary increase in mortgage revenue bond authority to allow for the issuance of an additional $10 billion of tax-exempt bonds to refinance subprime loans, provide loans to first-time homebuyers and to finance the construction of low-income rental housing.
  
• Temporary increase in low-income housing tax credit and simplification of the credit to help put builders to work to create new options for families seeking affordable housing alternatives.
  
• Helps returning soldiers avoid foreclosure by lengthening the time a lender must wait before starting foreclosure, from three months to one year after a soldier returns from service.
  
• Would not add to the national debt. The cost of this bill is offset with a tax compliance provision included in the President's Budget and by delaying the effective date of a tax benefit for multinational companies that has not yet taken effect.

Amendment 3-- Miller/LaTourette

• This amendment protects the right of states and cities to regulate the foreclosure process and the treatment of foreclosed property -- by clarifying that this act, the National Bank Act, and the Home Owner's Loan Act do not preempt State foreclosure laws for national banks or federally chartered thrifts.
  
• Exempting national banks and thrifts from foreclosure law would deprive the states and cities of the right to require that foreclosures must follow certain procedures, including notice to the people foreclosed, and that foreclosed property be safely maintained.
• Many in the industry and in the Bush administration argue that national banks should be exempted from these rules. There is no reason that national banks and federal thrifts should be treated differently from all other mortgage holders when it comes to how to foreclose and how to maintain foreclosed property.

HUD Extends the Comment Period an Additional 30 Days on the Proposed RESPA Reforms

Dear CAMB Members,

Please see the below press release from HUD regarding the extension of the comment period for their proposed REPSA Reform.

The CAMB Government Affairs Team is fighting in Sacramento and Washington DC, almost around the clock, to protect all of our ability to earn a living in this industry. We also strive to keep CAMB members informed about RESPA and other important regulatory issues. CAMB members provide a unique and valuable service to consumers and the industry. We will continue to keep you educated and informed about issues that will directly affect you and your business.

Sincerely,

Ed Smith, Jr., Vice-President of Government Affairs & Industry Relations
George Duarte CMC, Regional Vice-Chair
Ted Grose CMC, Regional Vice-Chair
Cory Reid CMC, Regional Vice-Chair
Tom Borcich, Regional Vice-Chair

NEWS
Department of Housing and Urban Development - Roy A. Bernardi, Deputy Secretary
Office of Public Affairs, Washington, DC 20410

HUD No. 08-061                                                          FOR RELEASE
Brian Sullivan                                                                 Wednesday
(202) 708-0980                                                             May 7, 2008

 

HUD EXTENDS COMMENT PERIOD ON PROPOSED MORTGAGE REFORMS
Additional 30 days to allow for more thoughtful comment on new 'Good Faith Estimate'

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today announced that it is extending the public comment period on the Bush Administration's proposed reforms to the real estate settlement process. The comment period for the Department's proposed rule to simplify and improve the process of obtaining mortgages and reducing settlement costs under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) will be extended 30 days until June 12, 2008.

"This critical rule will improve the complicated homebuying process and save families money at the settlement table. In light of Congressional and industry requests to extend the comment period for the rule, and our desire to develop the best possible rule, we are allowing additional time. However, we remain committed to finalizing a rule before the end of the Administration," said Deputy Secretary Roy A. Bernardi.

Over the past few years, HUD has aggressively reached out to interested consumer and industry groups to accept and give careful consideration to their thoughtful views and proposals to reform RESPA.

Since 1974, little has changed about how Americans buy and refinance their homes. Given the recent increase in home foreclosures, HUD remains committed to improving the complicated, unclear and costly homebuying process. HUD's proposal reforms to the more than 30-year old RESPA rules and improves disclosure of the loan terms and closing costs consumers pay when they buy or refinance their home. Visit RESPA reforms to learn more about the proposed rule.

The public comment period on HUD's proposed RESPA reforms was set to expire on May 13, 2008 prior to today's announcement.

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HUD is the nation's housing agency committed to increasing homeownership, particularly among minorities; creating affordable housing opportunities for low-income Americans; and supporting the homeless, elderly, people with disabilities and people living with AIDS. The Department also promotes economic and community development, and enforces the nation's fair housing laws. More information about HUD and its programs is available on the Internet at www.hud.gov and espanol.hud.gov. For more information about FHA products, please visit www.fha.gov.