caused severe problems for our nation’s already troubled housing markets, NAHB is pleased that H.R. 5114 provides for a long-term reauthorization through fiscal year 2015,” the letter said. “The five-year extension included in this legislation will ensure that the nation’s real estate markets operate smoothly and without delay.”
NAHB is urging the Senate to pass a similar long-term extension of the flood insurance program.
Established in 1968, the NFIP offers affordable flood insurance to homeowners and businesses in flood plains and other low-lying areas that otherwise might not be able to obtain coverage. More than 20,000 communities nationwide participate in the insurance program, which currently covers about 5.5 million policyholders.
NAHB Works to Ensure Flow of Housing Credit Unimpeded by Financial Reform
After months of congressional debate, by a vote of 237 to 192 the House on June 30 approved legislation that would provide the most sweeping overhaul of U.S. financial regulations since the Great Depression. Throughout the entire legislative process, NAHB has worked closely with congressional leaders to ensure that changes to financial regulations do not impede the flow of credit to the nation’s housing finance system. Following is a summary of NAHB’s actions on several issues raised by H.R. 4173, the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act:
• Risk Retention. Working in conjunction with industry colleagues, NAHB warned lawmakers that without further modification, a provision requiring loan originators to keep 5% of the credit risk on each loan they securitize or sell could raise consumer borrowing costs and limit the availability of affordable mortgage options. NAHB worked to secure support and adoption in the Senate by unanimous consent of a provision that would create a special category for carefully defined, fully documented and properly underwritten residential mortgage loans, exempting them from the statutory risk retention requirements in the overall bill.
The final legislative language would require federal banking agencies, the secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency to jointly define a category of “qualified residential mortgages” that meet certain minimum standards, for which the 5% securitization risk retention requirement could be reduced, in some cases to 0%.
• Mortgage Lending. Throughout the debate on financial regulatory reform, NAHB provided strong warnings that some of the proposed mortgage lending reforms could raise mortgage costs and reduce mortgage innovation. Deliberations over mortgage lending started with the defeat of an administration proposal to limit government financing to “plain vanilla” mortgage products.
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