MBANow Videos Tout Importance of Industry Activism

In a series of MBANow videos this week, the Mortgage Bankers Association illustrates the importance of industry activism and participation in its grassroots advocacy arm, the Mortgage Action Alliance Inc.  

Former MBA Chairman Bill Cosgrove, CMB, President & CEO of Union Home Mortgage, Strongsville, Ohio, said his company has stressed industry action since the company’s formation in 1999 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bvx2bKU87-8&feature=em-uploademail).  

“We made a decision to make sure that industry action would be one of the cornerstones of what we did as a company,” Cosgrove said. “And we really believe that an active, informed employee partner is simply a better employee partner, and that’s held true over the past 15 years.”  

Cosgrove said the legislative/regulatory environment in Washington “affects our business directly. It affects how we interact with consumers, with borrowers, how we interact with each other. We determined that what happens outside the four walls of our company was as important as what happens within the four walls of our company.”  

The MBA Mortgage Action Alliance is key to industry activism, Cosgrove said. “Anyone sitting at their desk all over the country, with a click of a button, can be involved with MAA,” he said. “You become engaged in the process in Washington. Believe me, I’ve been involved in meetings in Washington, with congressmen and senators, and they know how many emails they get from MBA. It’s the most basic, most powerful tool they we all have to be involved in our industry and part of the process.”  

MAA Committee Chairman Fowler Williams, CMB, President and CEO of Crescent Mortgage Co., Atlanta, said MAA Action Week (Oct. 3-7) is an important campaign, with the goal of increasing MAA membership to 15,000 participants (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZqjP4zefww&feature=em-uploademail).  

“Now more than ever, legislative and regulatory developments are making a huge impact on how we do business,” Williams said. “It’s absolutely vital that the real estate finance industry be ready to speak up on a law or regulation that affects your livelihood. That’s why it’s important that everyone in your company sign up for MAA.”  

MBA Senior Vice President of Legislative and Political Affairs Bill Killmer said Washington is playing an ever-increasing role in the business decisions mortgage lenders and servicers make on a daily basis (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IckrT4NuPMs&feature=em-uploademail).  

“MAA is the strike force that we use to talk with our elected officials back home, working to educate them and persuade them to make the right decisions on issues that affect our business and our customers,” Killmer said.  

MBA President and CEO David Stevens, CMB, said with a new Administration and new Congress coming to Washington in January, MBA member involvement is needed now more than ever. “Housing policy is going to be on the agenda–housing issues that affect every one of you, whether you are residential or commercial/multifamily; it makes no difference,” he said.   

To view this video and other videos in the MBANow series, click https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kW83EWQHY7A&feature=em-uploademail.

For more information about the MBA Mortgage Action Alliance Action week, click www.mba.org/actionweek.