With the coming of fall, we will experience many changes, and I don’t mean only in the weather … Congress has concluded its summer recess and has returned to Washington, D.C. Without going into detail on each issue, the following are a few issues that the National Association of Mortgage Brokers (NAMB) is working on.
We expect Chairman Barney Frank of the Financial Services Committee to push his proposed bill, HR 3126, out of committee and to the floor of the House of Representatives for a vote. This bill will create the Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA). There are a number of provisions in the bill that directly address our industry, and we will endeavor to have those provisions either changed or eliminated.
The Federal Reserve Bank Board has a new rule that goes into effect Oct. 1. Part of that rule is already in effect and has caused a lot of confusion in the industry as to how the disclosures should be implemented. The consumer is the one being hurt by this confusion since it is causing time delays in the ordering of appraisals and the ability to establish closing dates. In some instances, the consumer would have to pay a lock extension fee in order to meet a closing date.
The Federal Reserve also has a proposed rule that is out for comments, which are due in December of 2009. We are in the process of studying the proposed rule and putting our comments together. We believe there are some provisions in this rule that would seriously harm our industry. One such provision is the amount of compensation a loan originator can receive and another is the possible banning of yield spread premiums (YSPs).
In addition to the above, the new RESPA Rule will take effect January 2010. We are working with other groups to delay the implementation of this rule so that the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) can make some changes. We also have the ongoing problems with the Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC) and the damage it is causing the consumer in both time delays and money. We will continue to work to have the HVCC changed to protect the best interest of the consumer.
These are some of the issues and challenges we know about right now. Who knows what else Congress or any of the regulatory agencies might propose in the coming months.
You can see how full our basket is at this time. NAMB’s Government Affairs Committee, our lobbyists and staff can only do so much of the work to protect our industry. Your participation is needed and needed today!
Here are some things you need to do to help your association in addressing these issues.
► Participate: Study the issues and give the Government Affairs Committee your input on how you think these issues should be resolved.
► Share this information with your non-member competitors. They need to get off the sideline and become a part of the solution. Recruit them to become member to join us in protecting our industry.
►Become a regular contributor to the NAMB Political Action Committee.
It will take all our efforts these next few months to ensure we remain a viable part of the distribution channel. Now is not the time to be a turtle and pull back into our shell. We must be aggressive in our actions.
Your association is doing its part. Will you do yours?
Jim Pair, CMC is with Mortgage Associates Corpus Christi and is president of the National Association of Mortgage Brokers.
