NAMB testifies before House Financial Services Committee: NAMB fights back to protect your industryMortgagePress.comSub-prime mortgages,Congress
On Sept. 20, the major players in the mortgage industry were
brought together at a congressional hearing before the House
Financial Services Committee (HFSC). Participants at the hearing
entitled, "Legislative and Regulatory Options for Minimizing and
Mitigating Mortgage Foreclosures," included National Association of
Mortgage Brokers Immediate Past President Harry Dinham, CMC, U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso
Jackson, Federal Reserve System Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, U.S.
Department of the Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson Jr., as well as
representatives from Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the Mortgage Bankers
Association and others.
This hearing marked the fifth congressional hearing dealing with
current market situations that NAMB has testified at since February
of this year. During the hearing, Dinham urged Congress to increase
government-sponsored enterprise loan limits and the Office of
Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight to lift portfolio caps. He
also led a spirited defense of the receipt of yield-spread premiums
by brokers.
NAMB's testimony reiterated a number of reforms it believes
would protect future borrowers and ensure market stability,
including:
• Requiring all loan originators to meet minimum education
levels and pass criminal background checks, and creating a national
registry of originators governed by a federal agency;
• Requiring mandatory escrow accounts for taxes and insurance
on all sub-prime loans;
• Strengthening enforcement of prohibitions against deceptive
marketing and advertising of mortgage products;
• Clearly disclosing the role of the originator in mortgage
transactions;
• Creating simplified, modernized and consumer-tested
mortgage disclosures including a revised good faith estimate and a
loan-specific payment disclosure; and
• Encouraging consumer financial literacy.
To view NAMB's testimony, visit
www.namb.org/images/namb/GovernmentAffairs/Hearings_Testimony/NAMB_Harry_Dinham_HFSC_Testimony_September_20_2007.pdf.
For more information, visit www.namb.org.
