The Mortgage Bankers Association and others in the mortgage lending and affordable housing communities commented on an FHA request for information on the challenges of small-balance mortgage lending.
The Community Home Lenders of America wants federal officials to ban significant disparities in the fees charged to lenders for credit reports, but analysts say it’s unlikely that policy pressure will stop them.
There’s work to be done in the remaining months of the current Congress, including funding the government. If that isn’t done by Dec. 16, the government could shut down, and that has spelled trouble for FHA and USDA originations in the past.
The fees, already in place for more than the two years originally mandated, cost veterans $200 million annually, the Community Home Lenders of America says.
Among the areas that need reform, according to two trade groups: There is no secondary market for the loans. Ginnie Mae could remedy that problem by revising its Title I issuer requirements.
While the FHLBanks tout the utility of the system’s status quo, small independent mortgage bankers push a change that would give nonbanks access to FHLB credit without FHLB membership.