Bankers Advisory Staff Attorneys Lobby on Capitol Hill

• April 19, 2010
• Anna DeSimone

Dear Reader,

On April 14th, I attended the Mortgage Bankers Association of America’s National Policy Conference and was accompanied by our three staff attorneys, Marissa Aquila, Rachel Horman and Lindsay Sayre Kift. Also attending the event was Bankers Advisory’s Washington based Senior Consultant, Mark Burton, a long-time veteran of Fannie Mae. To discuss how Bankers Advisory can help your organization attain its important quality standards and monitor regulatory compliance, call Mark at 202-459-1139 or send an email to maburton@bankersadvisory.com.

 
 

 
RISK RETENTION
The MBA has lobbied against further risk retention for mortgage lenders who are already subject to a host of existing risk retention requirements. The MBA recommends that Congress should exempt mortgages eligible for purchase by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae from additional risk retention requirements.
 
UNIFORM NATIONAL STANDARDS
The MBA hopes to eliminate the patchwork of state and federal regulation and create a uninform national standard for more consistent regulation and consumer protection. The MBA asks Congress to establish uniform national standards applicable to all mortgage lenders and permit lenders to compete on a level playing field.
 
FHA & GNMA
The MBA is asking Congress to provide FHA with the full $25 million each fiscal year through 2013 as authorized under the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008. Support of H.R. 3146, The 21st Century FHA Housing Act, already passed the House unanimously and should be approved by the Senate.
 
CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION AGENCY
The MBA has lobbied against the formation of a separate consumer financial protection agency and has strong concerns that it may worsen consumer protection and weaken the regulation of mortgage lenders.
 
INTEREST DEDUCTION
Restricting further the mortgage interest deduction (MID), mortgage insurance deduction and property tax deduction would imperil our fragile housing recovery, according to the MBA.
 

Your voice was heard as Bankers Advisory presented on policy issues throughout the day. Anna DeSimone spoke about Risk Retention and FHA funding. Marissa Aquila, Esq. lobbied for uniform standards for state & federal mortgage regulations. Rachel Horman, Esq. spoke about mortgage tax and insurance deductions; and Lindsay Sayre Kift, Esq. commented on the topic of our nation’s consumer protection agencies. We met with the following officials from Massachusetts:
 
SENATE
At the Russell Senate Office Building, we were personally greeted by Senator Scott Brown and met with his Legislative Assistant. We met with John Phillips, Legislative Director for Senator John Kerry.
 
HOUSE
At the Longworth Building, we met with Noelle Melton, Senior Legislative Assistant to Representative Michael Capuano and personally met with Representive Stephen Lynch.

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