PRESS RELEASE
Posted on: 9/20/2005

Contact:
Jodi Greenblatt
(703) 610-0260

LEGISLATIVE BULLETIN ALERT
NAMB Testifies Before House Financial Services Committee
NAMB fights back to protect your industry.

On September 20, 2007, the major players in the mortgage industry were brought together at a congressional hearing before the House Financial Services Committee ("HFSC").  Participants at the hearing entitled, "Legislative and Regulatory Options for Minimizing and Mitigating Mortgage Foreclosures," included NAMB Past President Harry Dinham, CMC, Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, U.S. Department of the Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, Jr., as well as representatives from Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the Mortgage Bankers Association and others.  Today’s hearing marked the fifth congressional hearing dealing with current market situations NAMB has testified at since February of this year.  During the hearing, Past President Dinham urged Congress to increase GSE loan limits, OFHEO to lift portfolio caps and led a spirited defense of the receipt of YSP by brokers.NAMB’s testimony reiterated a number of reforms it believes would protect future borrowers and ensure market stability, including:

• Requiring all loan originators to meet minimum education levels and pass criminal background checks and creating a national registry of originators governed by a federal agency.
• Requiring mandatory escrow accounts for taxes and insurance on all subprime loans.
• Strengthening enforcement of prohibitions against deceptive marketing and advertising of mortgage products.
• Clearly disclosing the role of the originator in mortgage transactions.
• Creating simplified, modernized, and consumer-tested mortgage disclosures including a revised Good Faith Estimate and a loan-specific payment disclosure.
• Encouraging consumer financial literacy.
  

To view NAMB’s testimony, click here

To view more information on the hearing, click here

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The National Association of Mortgage Brokers is the voice of the mortgage broker industry with more than 27,000 members in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. NAMB provides education, certification and government affairs representation for the mortgage broker industry, which originates 68% of all residential loans in the United States.

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