MBA Advocacy Update: Read Bob Broeksmit’s WSJ Letter to the Editor; MBA/California MBA’s Significant Advocacy Win; MISMO Fall Summit Recap Amidst Record Attendance; more

Worth a read: MBA President and CEO Bob Broeksmit, CMB, penned a Wall Street Journal letter to the editor pushing back on a recent editorial that conflated elevated FHA delinquencies with broader concerns about the health of the FHA program and independent mortgage banks.

As Broeksmit concludes: “Conflating a single firm’s hedging misstep with FHA’s program-wide performance makes for an eye-catching headline, but what you describe neither informs readers about the health of the FHA program nor the strength of the independent mortgage bank sector.” 

California Drops CRA-for-IMBs, Passes Bill Focusing on Fair Lending Exams

In a significant victory for both MBA and the California MBA, and as a result of coordinated and sustained advocacy, California’s AB 801 has now passed both chambers of that state’s Legislature.

• Prior to its passage, the bill was substantially amended from its original language designed to establish Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) requirements for IMBs, credit unions, and state-chartered banks.  CMBA and MBA led industry efforts to amend AB 801 to instead focus on establishing a regular examination cycle for fair lending exams already authorized under state law.

Why it matters: The revised bill would require examinations at least once every four years, while also allowing the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation to accept comparable state or federal exams instead of conducting redundant reviews.

• Language was also added to require the fair lending examination reports to be accorded the same level of confidentiality as all other IMB exam reports in the state.

Go deeper: Last year, after the as-introduced version of AB 801 cleared the state Assembly, the sponsor agreed to pause further consideration to allow for additional discussions regarding the imposition of state community reinvestment requirements to IMBs and others.

• Those conversations, led by MBA, California MBA, and other key industry partners, ultimately resulted in amendments that recast the bill to require the regulator to conduct their fair lending exams on a four-year cycle. The amended bill has now cleared both the Senate and Assembly and will be delivered to Governor Gavin Newsom for his signature soon.

What next: MBA and the California MBA will remain engaged with the legislature and the regulator to focus on policies that promote access to affordable and sustainable mortgages, rather than imposing costly and ineffective CRA-style mandates. MBA will also continue to oppose any similar CRA-expansion legislation in other states.

For more information, please visit the MBA State CRA resource page, or contact William Kooper (202) 557-2737 or Liz Facemire CMB, at (202) 557- 2870.

MISMO Fall Summit Attracts Record Attendance and Tackles Industry Issues

The 2026 MISMO Fall Summit brought together a record 433 attendees to address issues shaping mortgage finance, including responsible AI, data modernization, credit scoring, and eMortgage adoption.

Workshops helped participants apply FRAME, MISMO’s AI governance framework, and explore standardizing the Tri-Party eNote Bailee Agreement.

• In a keynote fireside chat, Ginnie Mae President (and Acting FHA Commissioner) Joe Gormley discussed several Ginnie Mae initiatives to bring more private market liquidity to the Ginnie MBA program, including exploring program changes to allow loan-level servicing transfers and the ability to bifurcate the financing of servicing advances and MSRs.   

Why it matters: Lenders need effective AI governance programs to meet Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac guidelines and manage AI responsibly.

What’s next: This fall, MISMO will release additional FRAME resources and webinars and establish a workgroup to discuss standardizing the Tri-Party agreement. The next in-person MISMO Summit will be held January 11–14 in New Orleans, with workgroups meeting virtually through the rest of the year. 

For more information, please contact Amy Moses at (202) 577-2764.

Advocacy in August Connects MBA Members with Policymakers

MBA members have been highly engaged in recent meetings initiated via MBA’s Advocacy in August program outreach, participating in meaningful conversations with elected officials and candidates across the country. 

Go deeper: Recent discussions in Washington state, Missouri, Illinois, Maryland, and Texas have elevated elected officials/candidates’ firsthand perspectives on topics such as housing affordability/supply, tax policy, veterans’ lending, government funding, and other key federal policies impacting borrowers, communities, and professionals throughout the entire real estate finance ecosystem.

Why it matters: These conversations give policymakers and candidates valuable insight into how policy decisions affect their constituents/voter bases and strengthen the industry’s voice on issues that matter both locally and nationally.

What’s next: Keep the momentum going by registering for MBA’s MAA Pre-Election Webinar on September 15 from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. ET. The webinar is complimentary for MBA and MAA members with promo code MAA2026, and registration automatically joins or renews your annual MAA grassroots advocacy membership.

For more information, please contact Jamey Lynch, AMP, at (202) 557-2818 or Mike Fiegoli at (202) 557-2708.

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:

• From Data Chaos to AI-Ready: 3 Use Cases for Loan Documents and How to Implement Them – September 2
• Maximizing Home Equity Without Refinancing – September 8
• Benchmarking for Performance and the Performance Ratios Every Mortgage Banker Must Know – September 10
• Gain Confidence, Efficiency and Savings with Loan Product Advisor (LPA) – September 15
• UAD 3.6 Office Hours Part IV – September 21

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.