House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling, R-TX, author of H.R. 10, the Financial CHOICE Act, this week expressed uncertainty about how much of his controversial alternative to the Dodd-Frank Act might be able to garner bipartisan support in the Senate. But he said he is hopeful and willing to negotiate anything, while articulating faith in a strategy that pushes both a “short game” and a “long game” when it comes to making the major changes he envisions. During a public policy discussion at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank in Washington, DC, Hensarling suggested that Democrats haven’t stepped up to the plate to help smaller banks. “I hear my friends on the other side of the aisle say nice things about wanting to do regulatory relief for community financial institutions,” the congressman replied. “But I just never see the legislation. I don’t quite see the follow-through. “I haven’t given up...

A split in court rulings in cases involving “super-priority” liens makes the issue ripe for consideration by the Supreme Court of the United States, according to industry trade groups. Last week, the Mortgage Bankers Association, the American Bankers Association and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce submitted a joint amicus brief to the Supreme Court, stressing that super-priority liens “eviscerate” the traditional standing of mortgages. The court case of interest to the trade groups is...

The Federal Home Loan Banks have become too reliant on short-term funding of longer-term assets, according to Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mel Watt. Speaking at the FHLBank Annual Director’s Conference this week, Watt reiterated his concern from a year earlier that over time a heavy reliance on short-term funding can strain the system’s capacity to issue short-term debt at attractive spreads. He acknowledged...

The Trump White House wants to slash the budget of the CFPB, an independent agency it has no control over...

MBA's Stevens once again slams those in favor of a GSE “recap and release” plan, saying this group consists “primarily [of] stock speculators who are most concerned about personal profits” rather than the future of the U.S. housing system.”

Entering a future downturn with “extensive short-funded, long-asset positions would be imprudent,” said FHFA Director Mel Watt.

In the new Trump budget, the White House takes an ax to the USDA’s rural single-family housing direct loan program.

Meanwhile, although GSE risk sharing seems popular in some circles, FHFA itself admitted recently that some of this coverage has come at premium cost to Fannie and Freddie.

The law professors believe the CHOICE Act would take the mortgage industry back to the recent past, which was characterized by risky lending and lax regulatory oversight.

Sam Kazman, general counsel for the Competitive Enterprise Institute, says the hearing involves fundamental issues about the basic structure of our government…