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Protecting Home Loan Consumers Starts with Simplifying Disclosures
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Elizabeth Warren, Special Advisor to the Secretary of the Treasury for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), told a House subcommittee yesterday that ” A simple, straightforward and consistent presentation of a credit agreement is the best way to level the playing field between consumers and lenders – and among different types of lenders – and foster honest competition.” Warren updated the Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit on the progress of the new bureau which she will be directing but without the title of director. In lengthy testimony she covered the staffing, budget, and outreach already conducted to explain the Bureau to military families, faith-based groups, and state attorneys general. Many people, Warren said, assumed the Bureau would seek to accomplish…(read more)
Incoming MBA President Potentially Hindered by Revolving Door Policy
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A day after the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) announced the resignation of CEO John Courson and the appointment of David Stevens to replace him, the MBA’s choice of Stevens seems a little puzzling. MBA is the national association representing the real estate finance industry. That makes them lobbyists. David Stevens is currently the Assistant HUD Secretary and Commissioner of the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). According “The Revolving Door Ban” contained in Part (5) of the Ethics Commitments by Executive Branch Personnel, which Stevens would have signed when he was appointed to head the FHA, he isn’t eligible to lobby any member of the executive branch for the mortgage finance industry: “In addition to abiding by the limitations of paragraph 4, I also agree, upon leaving Government…(read more)
Home Builder Outlook Improves Before Spring Buying Season
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For the first time in four months builders showed increased confidence in their responses to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Survey. The Housing Market Index (HMI) derived from that survey bumped up one point from its previously static position to 17 in March. The Survey, which NAHB has conducted for over 20 years, asks builders to rate current single-family homes sales and their expectations for those sales in 6 months, both on a scale of “good,” “fair,” or “poor,” and the traffic of prospective buyers as “high to very high,” “average” or “low to very low.” Each question results in a component score and the three components are used to calculate a seasonally adjusted index – the HMI – where any number over 50 indicates that more builders view sales…(read more)