The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) has praised Senate passage of HR 5872, General and Special Risk Insurance Funds Availability Act, a bill to increase the Federal Housing Administration's (FHA) multifamily commitment authority, and HR 5981, which would allow FHA to increase its annual premiums for its single-family program. Both bills have passed the Senate and will now go to the President for his signature.Read more

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) believes the financial regulatory reform legislation, voted out of conference on Friday, while still needing improvement during the regulatory process, could have been much worse were it not for the efforts of MBA and its members. "We believe the progress that the conferees have made on risk retention and mortgage underwriting and home appraisals reflect an improved shift from what could have been much more harmful legislation," said MBA Chairman Robert E. Story Jr., CMB.Read more

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed the FHA Reform Act (HR 5072) in a near unanimous vote of 406-4. The bill enables the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) to reform its current mortgage insurance premium structure by shifting some of the upfront cost to the annual premium—a move that will increase FHA's capital reserves and reduce risks to the FHA insurance fund, while cushioning the impact on the consumer.Read more

John A. Courson, president and chief executive officer of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), has announced that Bill Killmer has been named senior vice president of legislative and political affairs, effective July 5, 2010. In this role, Killmer will manage MBA's Legislative and Political Affairs Group, and be directly responsible for the development and implementation of legislative and political strategy for the association as MBA serves its members in the real estate finance industry. Killmer will serve as MBA's chief lobbyist.Read more

Robert E. Story Jr., CMB, chairman of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) has issued the following comment reacting to passage of S. 3217, the Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010: "MBA has long supported a more efficient regulatory regime for the financial services industry, and passage of the bill is another important milestone. However, the bill, as we view it, still has flaws that will negatively impact borrowers and the real estate markets.Read more

Robert E. Story Jr., CMB, chairman of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) issued the following comment, reacting to passage in the Senate of the Landrieu/Isakson and Crapo Amendments to S. 3217, the Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010. The Landrieu/Isakson Amendment requires regulators to establish a category of well-underwritten single family loans that would be exempt from the bill's risk retention requirements.Read more

Robert E. Story Jr., CMB, chairman of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), testified before the Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity Committee on Financial Services at a hearing entitled, "The Recently Announced Revisions to the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP)". The following is Story's oral statement before the committee, as prepared for delivery:

"Chairwoman Waters, Ranking Member Capito, thank you for the opportunity to testify this afternoon.Read more

Robert E. Story Jr., CMB, chairman of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), has issued the following statement in reaction to proposed legislation to modernize regulation of the financial services industry: "MBA supports efforts to modernize the regulatory structure for mortgage banking firms, but we are concerned that this bill could be headed down several of the same wrong paths as the legislation that moved through the House late last year.Read more

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) has issued the following reactions and analysis to the fiscal year 2011 federal budget, as proposed by the Obama Administration. "Reducing the federal deficit is vital to the long-term health of the U.S. economy and our industry. However, we believe it can and should be done without negatively impacting the already-fragile housing market," said Robert E. Story Jr., CMB, MBA's chairman. "Limiting the mortgage interest deduction and imposing additional taxes on lenders will only make economic recovery more difficult."Read more

Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Commissioner David Stevens has announced a set of policy changes to strengthen the FHA's capital reserves, while enabling the agency to continue to fulfill its mission to provide access to homeownership for underserved communities. The changes announced are the latest in a series of changes Stevens has enacted in order to better position the FHA to manage its risk while continuing to support the nation's housing market recovery.Read more