A message from NAMB President Marc Savitt: Trial granted for NAMB's HVCC lawsuit Marc SavittNAMB, HVCC, alwsuit, appraisals, Temporary Restraining Order, FHFA
As you know, on Feb.23, 2009, the National Association of
Mortgage Brokers filed a lawsuit against the Federal Housing
Finance Agency (FHFA) over the controversial HVCC included in
agreements between New York Attorney General, Andrew Cuomo, Fannie
Mae and Freddie Mac (GSEs), and their regulator, the FHFA. This
week, the litigation took a major step forward as NAMB filed its
initial brief outlining why the HVCC is unlawful and should be
disallowed. The 45 page document was supported by numerous
affidavits, exhibits, and other materials which demonstrated the
grave problems created by the HVCC.
NAMB is asking the U.S. District Court for the District of
Columbia to take any one of several actions that would invalidate
the HVCC. As expected, the court declined to rule immediately that
the HVCC should be withdrawn without first permitting FHFA to
present its arguments, and thus the court has denied NAMB's request
for an immediate Temporary Restraining Order. However, in doing so,
the court expressly reserved judgment on the merits of NAMBs
position, which the court has yet to address.
What does this mean?
The District Court may block implementation of the HVCC through an
immediate Temporary Restraining Order (TRO), a Temporary
Injunction, or a Permanent Injunction. A TRO is rarely grantedit
requires a showing that a party faces immediate and irreparable
harm if a TRO is not granted and, when granted, typically is in
effect only for a matter of days. Because the District Court did
not find that there would be immediate and irreparable harm done to
appraisers or mortgage brokers within the next few days if a TRO
was not granted, the court ruled that a TRO was not appropriate.
That decision does NOT mean that the District Court denied NAMB's
claim. To the contrary, the litigation is now proceeding to the
next stage, when NAMB will have an opportunity to present its case
to the court, which will then make a ruling.
NAMB has requested an expedited hearing process given the close
proximity of the HVCC effective date. NAMB continues to seek both a
temporary injunction and permanent injunction blocking
implementation of the HVCC, and is seeking resolution of the matter
in the coming weeks. Despite the initial good news, there is much
more to be done! NAMB is so grateful for your support thus far, but
we still need your help! Please continue to circulate the donation
letters to appraisers and real estate agents, and contact your
fellow NAMB members and urge them to contribute. More than ever,
the time to act is NOW.
If you have any questions, please send an e-mail to
[email protected].
Sincerely,
Marc Savitt, CRMS, President
National Association of Mortgage Brokers
