Broeksmit Discusses MISMO’s New President, Importance to Industry

ANNAPOLIS, Md.–MISMO is very important to the mortgage industry’s adaptability and resilience during a shifting regulatory environment, MBA President and CEO Bob Broeksmit, CMB, told attendees Tuesday at the MISMO Fall Summit.

Broeksmit opened his speech with the news that Brian Vieaux will take the helm as MISMO President in September. “Over the last 30 years, [Brian] has been a dynamic leader, strategist, and team builder. He is a Certified Mortgage Banker and brings to MISMO an ideal mix of hands-on experience in hands-on lending and in the mortgage technology arena,” Broeksmit said. “For the last six years, he led FinLocker in St. Louis, from its start-up to broad market penetration in the highly competitive fintech space. Previously, he had a successful run as senior vice president at Flagstar Bank in Troy, Mich., where he set the company’s strategic direction and drove third-party revenue.”

“With his energy and new ideas, I know Brian will make MISMO’s value proposition crystal clear for vendors and lenders at a critical time for the industry,” Broeksmit said.

Broeksmit also touched upon MBA’s work in the legislation and policy arena. “It might be the understatement of the century: the last six months have seen extraordinary changes in Washington. The Trump Administration moved quickly and dramatically to shrink the size and scope of government,” he said.

“We certainly welcomed the pivot away from regulatory overreach and duplication. At the same time, we recognized that MBA had an important role in shaping changes that were proposed or contemplated for government agencies involved in housing. It was critical to avoid sudden disruptions to the housing finance system.”

Broeksmit said whatever changes in legislative or regulatory policy are adopted, we need to ask practical questions about how they would be implemented and how this would affect the day-to-day operations of lenders, services, and compliance professionals.

“In the flurry of proposed changes–I’m going to say blizzard of proposed changes–from the White House or the Office of Management and Budget, we found ourselves in the unusual position of urging caution in scaling back the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau,” he said. “We have certainly had our differences with the Bureau over the years, but gutting the Bureau would have unintended consequences that would have been bad for both lenders and their customers.”

The fact is, Dodd-Frank remains the law of the land, Broeksmit said. “Lenders and servicers must adhere to it. Even if federal enforcement wanes, state attorneys general can enforce its provisions, as can the plaintiff’s bar via a private right of action. Given MISMO’s essential role in setting standards and industry practices, I might be preaching to the choir when I say the right rules provide a measure of stability for lenders and borrowers. The wrong rules – or no rules at all – do the opposite,” he added.

We need to avoid freezing bad rules in place, Broeksmit said. “We benefit from a rulemaking process that enables us to amend or terminate problematic rules. That requires personnel with subject matter expertise and knowledge of the rulemaking process.”

Broeksmit mentioned a “stretch of legislative victories,” calling it a remarkable run on Capitol Hill.

“President Trump recently signed into law The Homebuyers Privacy Protection Act of 2025, which we refer to as the Trigger Leads bill. Consumers will now be safe from the barrage of unwanted calls, texts, and emails they receive the moment they apply for a mortgage. And it will create a more efficient, responsible, and respectful home-buying process for all buyers,” Broeksmit said.

The bill will go into effect in March 2026. “Over the next six months, we will be deeply engaged in the implementation process to ensure there is clarity and coherence for lenders and to avoid disruptions or confusion,” Broeksmit added.

In another victory on Capitol Hill, in late July, President Trump signed into law the VA Home Loan Program Reform Act. “Partial claim programs have long been a mechanism to mitigate losses on loans backed by government programs through the VA, Federal Housing Administration, USDA, and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,” Broeksmit noted. “The partial claim option for homeowners with VA home loans expired at the end of the national emergency declaration in 2022, and a stop-gap measure, the VA Servicing Purchase program, or VASP, was cancelled earlier this year. Tens of thousands of veterans faced the possibility of foreclosure. Servicers, who would otherwise use the partial claim option to help their struggling borrowers, were put in a terrible position.”

Broeksmit said elected officials on both sides of the political aisle recognized the need for a remedy after MBA told them about it and said MBA led the charge in providing a path to get there and restore parity in government homeownership programs–pushing for several critical operational improvements to the bill.

In addition to these two industry-specific bills, H.R. 1, the “One Big Beautiful Bill” Act, became law on the Fourth of July, complete with a flyover at the White House.

“MBA’s tax policy priorities are well represented in the new law,” Broeksmit said. “Importantly, the bill preserves–and in some cases, enhances–key elements of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that were identified as priorities by MBA’s Board-level Tax Task Force. And we’re not done yet! This month, the full Senate could take up the ROAD to Housing bill that the Senate Banking Committee approved on a unanimous vote in early August. It is a package of roughly forty bills intended to expand and preserve housing supply, improve housing affordability and access, and bolster the oversight of our federal housing programs, many of which the MBA has supported or advocated for in recent years.”

Overall, the bill represents a genuine interest on Capitol Hill to seize every opportunity to boost housing supply for both owning and renting, streamline federal housing program offerings, and make small-dollar mortgage lending more available to consumers, Broeksmit said. “It’s a work in progress, as we’re still seeking to refine some of the language dealing with appraisal reforms – and it’s unclear how the U.S. House will react. But senators are considering attaching the measure to the National Defense Authorization Act–an annual must-pass piece of legislation–later this month. We look forward to working with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle and with the Trump administration on these and other critical reforms that will improve housing opportunities and outcomes for all Americans,” he said.  

Turning to credit scoring, Broeksmit said MBA is working closely with key officials on credit scores.

“Over the summer, Director Pulte announced that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will allow lenders to use VantageScore 4.0,” he said. “Within a few days of Director Pulte’s announcement, MBA joined other industry groups in a statement supporting the general idea that more competition is a good thing and could lower borrowing costs. In direct response to questions MBA raised, the FAQ document explained that GSEs will permit lenders to deliver mortgage loans using a credit score generated by either the Classic FICO model or the VantageScore 4.0 model. But for the time being, they will not accept scores from multiple models on a single loan.”

The details of the policy and its implementation continue to evolve, Broeksmit noted. “And we’re working hard to drive change on the underlying requirement that all GSE and government loans require credit reports and scores from all three credit bureaus,” he said.

Broeksmit also discussed the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. “Perhaps the biggest issue on the horizon for the U.S. mortgage market is the future of the GSEs,” he said. “Administration officials say they are determined to end the conservatorship, now in its eighteenth year. Setting a new course for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will be a complex undertaking that could require legislation from Congress. There have been a number of trial balloons floated, but it appears no decisions have been made.”

Last week, MBA, along with other industry associations and think tanks, participated in roundtable discussions at the Treasury Department and at FHFA. “These sessions provided an opportunity for us to reiterate some of our core principles about the future of the GSEs,” Broeksmit said. “Among them is that there need to be at least two GSEs, and we think competition in the secondary market–both on the single-family and multifamily sides–is essential for the system as a whole and for consumers.” [Broeksmit recently published a blog post on this topic.]

“We also believe it is critical to ensure FHFA and the GSEs maintain a level playing field for all lenders with respect to pricing, pilots, products and underwriting variances. This is critical to supporting smaller independent mortgage banks, community banks and credit unions, who have a deep understanding of local markets,” Broeksmit said. “Critically, there should be a well-defined, paid-for federal backstop for the GSEs’ mortgage-backed securities that could be tapped only after all private capital is exhausted.”

Broeksmit said MBA will work with the Administration and Congress on freeing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from conservatorship, and added that MBA will take a back seat to no one in insisting that it is done the right way and does not disrupt the critical role they play in the U.S. housing finance system.

“It’s time to end it and release the GSEs, but we can’t screw up the only mortgage finance system in the world that provides 30-year fixed rate prepayable mortgages at market rates through all economic cycles and in all 435 Congressional districts,” he said.

In conclusion, Broeksmit called the work of MISMO indispensable to mortgage banking. “Your deep specialized expertise ensures our industry is agile in a marketplace where laws, regulations, technology, and industry practices are always changing,” he said. “Thank you for your hard and work and dedication and congratulations on a successful fall summit.”