MBA Advocacy Update: Senate Banking Committee Advances Nominees for Ginnie Mae, FHA, and FDIC
Senate Banking Committee Advances Nominees for Ginnie Mae, FHA, and FDIC
On Wednesday, the Senate Banking Committee voted to advance the nominations of Joseph Gormley to be President of Ginnie Mae, Francis Cassidy to be Assistant Secretary, Department of Housing and Urban Development and Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Commissioner, and Travis Hill to be Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). Gormley and Hill were reported on party-line 13-11 votes, while the vote for Cassidy was 14-10, with Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) joining Banking Committee Republicans to vote in favor of advancing the nomination to the full Senate floor. A full summary of the hearing can be found here.
• Chairman Tim Scott (R-SC) emphasized that swift confirmation of the nominees would be essential for purposes of economic stability and housing access. Ranking Member Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) spoke exclusively in opposition to Hill’s nomination, noting that he failed to address the agency’s toxic workplace culture and actively blocked the release of independent monitoring reports to Congress.
Go deeper: While debate is normally minimal during an Executive Session of the Committee (as the nomination hearing occurred previously), Ranking Member Warren focused on the workplace culture and lack of transparency at the FDIC and criticized administrative actions such as staffing cuts.
What’s next: Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and his staff are expected to work to schedule confirmation votes for all three nominees by the full Senate sometime soon after the Thanksgiving holiday.
For more information, please contact George Rogers at (202) 557-2797 and Bill Killmer at (202) 557-2736.
House Financial Services Committee Holds Hearing on Future of Deposit Insurance
On Tuesday, the House Financial Services Committee held a hearing titled, “The Future of Deposit Insurance: Exploring the Coverage, Costs, and Depositor Confidence.” Several Republicans and Democrats on the committee indicated support for targeted reforms in order to protect community banks and business payment accounts.
• Find the full summary here and watch the hearing here.
Why it matters: While some of the changes could enhance the stability of bank deposit flows, particularly for community banks, they would come at a cost in terms of higher deposit insurance premiums. The scope of any expanded coverage, and the associated premium hikes, could have differential impacts on small versus large institutions, requiring Congress to carefully balance these interests for any legislation to pass.
What’s next: MBA will continue to closely monitor developments (in both the House and Senate) regarding potential deposit insurance reforms.
For more information, please contact Madisyn Rhone at (202) 557-2741, and Rachel Kelley at (202) 557-2816.
MBA Submits Coalition Letter to FCC Regarding the Efficacy of STIR/SHAKEN Call ID Authentication
On Tuesday, MBA and other trades sent a joint letter to the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) regarding STIR/SHAKEN call authentication improvements. MBA’s and the group’s comments focus on the importance of a trustworthy phone system and the FCC’s efforts to combat illegal robocalls. Unfortunately, STIR/SHAKEN has not significantly reduced fraudulent calls.
Go deeper: Despite years of implementation, spoofed calls remain a major driver of consumer fraud, with losses exceeding $12.5 billion in 2024 and robocall volumes reaching nearly 5 billion in April 2025. The signed groups believe that the current evaluation standard, which is focused on technical authentication, should also measure actual reductions in illegal robocalls, where progress has been minimal.
The letter recommends several improvements to strengthen STIR/SHAKEN framework:
• First, the Commission should set a firm deadline for transitioning all providers from legacy TDM networks to IP-based networks, as STIR/SHAKEN only works over IP;
• Second, enforcement against improper attestations must be enhanced, including penalties and stricter entry requirements for the Robocall Mitigation Database (RMD); and,
• Third, clearer guidance on Know-Your-Customer (KYC) standards is needed to ensure providers exercise due diligence before allowing traffic on their networks. These steps are critical to restoring trust and achieving the TRACED Act’s goals.
Why it matters: MBA continues to support the FCC’s efforts to eliminate illegal automated calls. Banks, credit unions, and other financial services providers – and their customers – are negatively impacted by bad actors that increasingly place calls that impersonate legitimate companies with intent to defraud.
• These bad actors at times illegally “spoof” phone numbers belonging to our members by causing the call recipient’s caller ID to display the name of a legitimate company instead of the name of the actual caller, who is seeking to defraud the recipient. Without the reforms outlined in the letter, the STIR/SHAKEN framework will remain inadequate to curb illegal robocalls and protect consumers.
What’s next: MBA will continue to monitor any future improvements to the FCC’s STIR/SHAKEN framework and provide any relevant updates.
For more information, please contact Alisha Sears at (202) 557-2930.
Indiana Bankruptcy Court Amends Rule in Response to MBA, IMBA Advocacy
On Thursday, the Southern District of Indiana, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, in response to advocacy by the MBA, Indiana MBA, and MBA members issued revised rule changes that removed a provision that could have been harmful to servicers.
• MBA, along with the Indiana MBA, submitted a joint comment letter earlier this month to the Local Rules Committee opposing the rule.
Go deeper: The rule would have required lenders to consider mortgage payments timely if the payment is provided to a trustee within 21 days of the plan payment due date. This would undermine the nationwide uniformity of credit reporting law under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and create significant operational challenges for mortgage servicers.
What’s next: MBA will keep members informed about any additional updates.
For more information, please contact Justin Wiseman at (202) 557- 2854 or Kaitlin Hildner at (202) 557-2933.
USDA Issues Guidance on PITI Ratio Application Following Shutdown
Friday morning, the Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Rural Housing Service (RHS) released guidance clarifying that, due to the lapse in appropriations during the government shutdown, any application with a final Guaranteed Underwriting System (GUS) submission before Nov. 4 will continue to be reviewed under the prior 34% maximum PITI ratio, rather than the newly implemented 29% standard announced during the shutdown.
USDA also noted that it is actively working through a backlog of requests for Conditional Commitments and Loan Guarantees. Lenders are reminded that loans must not be closed before receiving an official Conditional Commitment, as doing so will disqualify the loan from a Guarantee and may affect lender participation status.
Why this matters: This clarification prevents borrowers with pre–November 4 submissions from being disadvantaged by the shutdown and saves lenders from having to rework loans that would no longer meet the new 29% PITI limit.
What’s next: The MBA will follow up with the USDA team to advocate for reinstating the 34% PITI ratio, given its importance in preserving access to credit for rural borrowers. Reducing the ratio to 29% runs counter to the Trump administration’s stated goal of removing barriers to homeownership.
For more information, please contact Darnell Peterson at (202) 557-2922.
MBA Launches States Campaign for Q1 2026 Grace Period on New Mortgage Call Report Filings
Last week, MBA received a response to its Aug. 26 request that the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) urge its regulator members to provide grace periods for Second-Quarter 2026 filings under the new NMLS Mortgage Call Report Form Version 7 (MCRV7).
• The request, which was not considered by a state regulator committee until October 20, was prompted by the compressed implementation timeline CSBS announced earlier this year for MCRV7. The new MCR relies heavily on the availability of an updated XML schema, which CSBS did not deliver until October 31.
Go deeper: The late release confirms the MBA’s concerns that, during the busy state licensing renewal season, member companies will be forced to reengineer reporting software, test those changes, and operationalize new systems – all within weeks of the January 1 start of required data collection.
• CSBS declined to recommend a grace period, stating that it views the changes as limited in scope and pointed to a series of “office hours” and a January test environment as sufficient support. Because this response falls short of what is needed, MBA this week launched a state-by-state campaign, asking its state partner associations to submit their own requests for Q1 2026 grace periods directly to their regulators.
Why this matters: MCRV7 adds servicing-related reporting elements that create new data collection challenges for licensees. These new fields must be identified, built, and ready to capture data beginning January 1, yet filers have not had access to the XML schema they need to configure and validate their systems.
• By contrast, when industry faced a similar compressed timeline for the transition from MCRV5 to MCRV6 two years ago, both CSBS and the American Association of Residential Mortgage Regulators (AARMR) urged their members to consider grace periods for initial filings.
What is next: CSBS’s office hours will be held most Fridays 12:00-1:00 p.m. ET through April 24, 2026. For a full schedule, review this CSBS email sent to companies required to file MCRV7. To access these office hours, please save this link to join the meetings during the scheduled times provided by CSBS. (Meeting ID: 227 443 764 654 7, Passcode: xQ2Z3Fr6).
MBA will continue to work with its state partners, CSBS, and AARMR on these grace periods to allow flexibility on filing and account for any potential technical issues in the first quarter of MCRV7.
For more information, please contact William Kooper (202) 557-2737 or Liz Facemire (202) 557-2870
[VIDEO]: mPower Moments: On Finding Your Purpose with Maria Shriver
mPower Founder Marcia M. Davies sits down with Maria Shriver, Award-Winning Journalist and Author, for an in-depth conversation about her career journey, upbringing, and her purpose in life.
Go deeper: Maria shares her top passions in life, including her publication, “The Sunday Paper,” where individuals can share their personal experiences of trauma and grief, as well as stories of personal victory and triumph. Maria also discusses her upbringing, how her dedication to serving others was ingrained from an early age, and how that has helped shape her life’s purpose. Furthermore, she discusses her extensive work in women’s health and Alzheimer’s research, and how she is actively working to ensure that women’s health remains a top priority in medical research.
• To watch more mPower Moments videos, click here.
For more information, please contact Marcia Davies at (202) 557-2707.
Upcoming MBA Education Webinars on Critical Industry Issues
MBA Education continues to deliver timely single-family programming that covers the spectrum of challenges, obstacles and solutions pertaining to our industry. Below, please see a list of upcoming and recent webinars – all complimentary to MBA members:
• Ten Things Your Company Must Do in 2026 – Dec. 9
• New Rules for Recruiting in Mortgage and Banking – Dec. 16
• 5 Key MISMO Initiatives Impacting Today’s Lenders – Feb. 17
• Mortgage Accounting Webinar Series: Loan Accounting, Part I: Drilling into Mortgage Accounting – April 22
• Mortgage Accounting Webinar Series: Loan Accounting, Part II: Loan Level Accounting – April 29
MBA members can register for any of the above events and view recent webinar recordings by clicking here.
For more information, please contact David Upbin at (202) 557-2931.
