While the House Financial Services Committee was busy last week passing a handful of mortgage-related bills, the full House passed legislation that would eliminate additional Home Mortgage Disclosure Act reporting requirements for smaller banks and credit unions as well as nonbanks.
A deduction included in the recently enacted Tax Cuts and Jobs Act aimed at small businesses could apply to mortgage banking companies, according to certain industry analysts. The tax law was written to limit the deduction for income from financial services activities, but there’s enough ambiguity at the moment for some accounting firms to see a way for lenders to take the deduction.
The Treasury Department appears to be in agreement with the Federal Housing Finance Agency on objectives for a post-conservatorship housing-finance system, which includes preserving the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage and competition in the secondary market.
The Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee this week continued to work on housing-finance reform legislation, with the hope that a bipartisan bill can still be cobbled together in a dysfunctional Congress. As for passage this year, that’s a different matter.
In a statement issued to Inside Mortgage Finance, Sen. Mark Warner, D-VA – a key player in the process – said he is still interested in the topic, noting the panel wants a...
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