MBA Newslinks Archive

“It is hard to imagine commercial and multifamily mortgages performing better than they are today. Strong property fundamentals and values and ready credit availability are all helping contribute to this extraordinary performance.”
–MBA Vice President of Commercial Real Estate Research Jamie Woodwell.

“This provision would have severe, unintended consequences resulting in higher costs for borrowers and diminished access to credit, caused when servicers of all shapes and sizes are forced to exit the business because they can’t, or won’t, operate under this new rule. It would also negatively impact trillions of dollars of mortgage servicing rights held by small community banks, non-bank lenders, regional and large banks and commercial and multifamily lenders.”
–MBA President and CEO David Stevens, CMB, on a provision in the Senate tax bill under consideration that would dramatically alter how banks treat mortgage servicing rights.

“As responsible keepers of this sensitive information, we feel compelled to articulate our profound concerns about the risks to consumer privacy, of identity theft and fraud presented by the Proposed Guidance.”–MBA and other industry trade groups, in a letter to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau regarding its proposed guidance on treating loan-level data under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act.

“Eventually, younger people move for jobs and empty nesters need to leave their five-bedroom homes.”
–Joe Melendez, CEO of ValueInsured, Dallas.

“Existing homeowners remain reluctant to list their homes for sale for fear of not being able to find a home to buy, keeping supply levels low. At the same time, a healthy number of potential home buyers continue to enter the market, so house prices are increasing and affordability is declining.”
–First American Financial Corp. Chief Economist Mark Fleming.

“In 2017, the [Consumer Financial Protection Bureau] is at an inflection point, when it can now pivot and focus its resources on providing supervision and binding, authoritative guidance that helps responsible parties, including those in the mortgage industry, comply with the new rules of the road, while limiting enforcement to the actors operating without regard for clearly delineated and well-illustrated rules established by CFPB.” 
–MBA Senior Vice President, Public Policy & Industry Relations Stephen O’Connor, in an MBA letter to the CFPB on its 2018-2022 Strategic Plan.

“Most of the major variances from the second to third quarter of 2017 are tied to early delinquencies for all loan types. In the third quarter of 2017, there was little movement in the seriously delinquent rate, which rose just three basis points and was down 44 basis points from a year ago. Foreclosure starts were down one basis point from the previous quarter. In future surveys, we may see a temporary drop in foreclosure starts in hurricane-impacted states due to storm-related foreclosure moratoria, as was seen during Hurricane Katrina in 2005.”
–MBA Vice President of Industry Analysis Marina Walsh.

“Most of the enterprises’ investments will be used to facilitate transactions that support underserved markets and complement our Duty to Serve priorities.”–Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mel Watt, announcing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s limited re-entry into the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit market.

“The drop in the capital reserve ratio–primarily due to the extreme volatility of the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage program–demonstrates that the Trump Administration was wise to reverse the mortgage insurance premium reduction made in the last days of the previous administration. Had the reduction remained in place, the value of the MMI fund would have more than likely dropped below the legal statutory 2 percent threshold.”–Mortgage Bankers Association President and CEO David Stevens, CMB.

“This long-term reauthorization will provide certainty to homeowners and businesses that depend on the program for flood damage protection. Additionally, this legislation contains important provisions related to the clarification and expansion of the private flood insurance market.”–MBA President and CEO David Stevens, CMB, on House passage of legislation reauthorizing the National Flood Insurance Program.