The 12 member “super committee” of House and Senate members tasked with tackling debt reduction should seriously consider raising the guarantee fees charged by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as one way to reduce government expenditures, according to the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. In a letter to the members of the Joint Select Committee to Reduce the Deficit, Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-AL, said the committee should consider raising the premiums the GSEs charge lenders to insure against the risk that borrowers will fail to repay their loans to something even higher than the White House and regulators have proposed.

The mortgage lending industry is more likely to see a return to higher FHA loan limits than higher Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac limits, after the Senate gave its approval to legislation that would restore higher conforming loan levels all the way around, according to one top industry lobbyist. Late last week, the Senate voted 60-38 to approve a federal spending bill that included an amendment sponsored by Sens. Bob Menendez, D-NJ, and Johnny Isakson, R-GA, that would reinstate the higher loan limits for the government-sponsored enterprises and the FHA that ended on Sept. 30. Those limits dropped from a maximum of...

The U.S. Senate voted late last week to approve an amendment to a federal spending bill that was offered by Sens. Bob Menendez, D-NJ, and Johnny Isakson, R-GA, to reinstate the higher loan limits for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration that expired on Sept. 30. Those limits dropped to $625,500 in a number of high-cost markets on Oct. 1, and would be restored to $729,750 through December 2013 under the Menendez/Isakson amendment. The National Association of Home Builders was pleased.

The House of Representatives has passed legislation that would give surviving spouses of fully disabled veterans access to VA home loans. The bill, H.R. 120, the Disabled Veterans’ Surviving Spouses Home Loans Act, is part of H.R. 2433, the Veterans Opportunity to Work Act, which the House overwhelmingly approved on Oct. 12 by a vote of 418 to 6. H.R. 2433 contains six pieces of veteran legislation designed to address veteran unemployment. Introduced by Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-NC, H.R. 120 aims to allay concerns of veterans with permanent and total disabilities about where their surviving spouses would live should the veteran die of causes unrelated to their military service. Under current law, a surviving spouse may qualify for a VA home loan only if the service member’s death is determined to be related to service disabilities. Otherwise, the surviving spouse qualifies only for ...

The Senate voted this week to reinstate the higher conforming loan limit that expired at the end of September, heeding calls by the real estate and mortgage industries. On a vote of 60-38, lawmakers passed an amendment to the FY2012 funding bill, S. 1596, for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which, among other things, would raise the maximum loan amount that can be guaranteed by FHA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Introduced by Sen. Robert Menendez, D-NJ, the amendment restores the 125 percent median home price formula used to calculate the temporary higher loan limits in effect prior to Oct. 1, which was up to $729,750 in certain high-cost areas of the country and lower in other jurisdictions. After Oct. 1, the new loan limit calculation was ...

Mortgage servicing shops should soon expect extra-special scrutiny from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and perhaps even a visit by bureau examiners as part of a servicer supervision strategy announced late last week. “Mortgage servicing has a huge impact on consumers and is a priority for the CFPB,” said Raj Date, special advisor to the Secretary of the Treasury for the CFPB. “The mortgage servicing market has been bogged down by widespread reports of pervasive and profound consumer protection problems. We are going to take a close and measured look at whether servicers are following the law.” The CFPB has indicated that...

The U.S. Supreme Court recently agreed to review a dispute over closing fees in a move that may resolve a potentially entrenched circuit court conflict over the scope of the Real Estate Settlement Practices Act prohibition against unearned fees. At issue is RESPA Section 8(b), which provides that “[n]o person shall give and no person shall accept any portion, split or percentage of any charge made or received for the rendering of a real estate settlement service in connection with a transaction involving a federally related mortgage loan other than for services actually performed.” As the U.S. government...

Flood insurance reform legislation in the Senate would result in higher net income to the National Flood Insurance Program and more federal revenues than the House version, according to a cost estimate by the Congressional Budget Office. The Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs approved the bill, the Flood Insurance Reform and Modernization Act, on Sept. 8 by unanimous voice vote. The bill is awaiting Senate floor action. The House passed its bill, H.R. 1309, the Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2011, before the August recess by a vote of 406-22. Like its House counterpart, the Senate bill would reauthorize...

California. The state amended a number of its mortgage loan originator licensing provisions under the California Finance Lenders Law last week, including one amendment that permits applicants who have an expunged or pardoned felony conviction to obtain a license. The underlying crime, facts or circumstances can be considered when determining whether to issue a license. Another amendment permits a person exempt from the California Finance Lenders Law to register with the Commissioner of Corporations so as to sponsor one or more individuals required to be licensed under the SAFE Act if specific requirements are met.

Securitization market participants continue to face significant uncertainty from regulatory forces on both sides of the Atlantic that is dampening securitization activity, raising costs and probably leaving some deals undone. Much of the problem stems from capital requirements and the use of credit ratings, which have fallen into disrepute among many lawmakers and regulators in the wake of the collapse of the subprime mortgage market and the resulting credit market freeze in 2008. After last year’s enactment of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the...