MBA Hosts Successful National Advocacy Conference
Over 400 industry advocates from over 40 states attended MBA’s annual NationalAdvocacy Conference (NAC) earlier this week. The conference program included a slate of congressional and administration speakers including HUD Secretary Ben Carson, Senate Banking Committee member Doug Jones (D-AL), key HFSC member and subcommittee chair Greg Meeks (D-NY), “Problem Solvers” Caucus members Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and Rep. Steve Watkins (R-KS), and Fox News Anchor Chris Wallace – in addition to a memorable reception with elected officials in the Great Hall at the Library of Congress.

On Wednesday, 300 attendees participated in 272 official constituent meetings with their senators and representatives on Capitol Hill. The NAC Hill Day once again included a tailored Commercial/Multifamily track. Our CREF members heard directly from speakers including key Senate Banking Committee and Senate Finance Committee member Tim Scott (R-SC), HFSC member Brad Sherman (D-CA), along with key staff from the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), the Senate Banking Committee, Senate Appropriations Committee, and the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee.

For more information please contact Bill Killmer at (202) 557-2746 or Alden Knowlton at (202) 557-2816.

Senate Confirms Calabria to Lead the FHFA
Yesterday the Senate confirmed Mark Calabria to serve as Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). MBA President and CEO Bob Broeksmit released astatement congratulating the Director and vowing to work with FHFA to resolve the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. As expected, the vote tally was 52-44, falling along party lines. Earlier this week, MBA joined other industry trade groups in a letter urging the Senate to approve Calabria's nomination. This followed a previous letterMBA sent to the Senate Banking Committee urging the Committee to support Calabria’s nomination. 

For more information, please contact Erin Barry at (202) 557-2913 or Tallman Johnson at (202) 557-2866.

Legislation Introduced to Address 'Orphaned' VA Loans
Last week, a bipartisan group of congressmen led by David Scott (D-GA), Lee Zeldin (R-NY), Mike Levin (D-CA), and Andy Barr (R-KY) introduced the Protect Affordable Mortgages for Veterans Act of 2019 (H.R. 1988), which preserves critical protections for veterans by allowing previously “orphaned” VA Home Program refinance loans to be pooled in the Ginnie Mae secondary market (while also maintaining strong refinancing reforms enacted into law last May). H.R. 1988 is very substantially similar to legislation passed by voice vote last September in the House of Representatives during the 115thCongress.

Section 309 of last year’s regulatory reform law (previously known as S. 2155, now Public Law 115-174) sought to address the problem of loan churning targeted at service members and veterans. This section instituted new requirements that refinanced loans must meet to be eligible for the VA guaranty and for Ginnie Mae pooling. A gap between the timing dictated in S. 2155 and the implementation of the new rules left approximately 2,500 VA-guaranteed loans ineligible for pooling. These “orphaned loans” are barred from the secondary market, creating a strain on liquidity for the institutions involved. H.R. 1988 would provide a technical fix to correct this gap, maintain liquidity in the VA Home Loan market and ensure continued access to affordable VA mortgages. MBA submitted a letter of support for H.R. 1988 this week as well. Efforts remain underway with Senate offices to have a parallel measure introduced and advanced.

For more information, please contact Dan Grattan at (202) 557-2712 or Bill Killmer at (202) 557-2736.

FHFA Directs GSEs to Disburse Affordable Housing Funds
Earlier this week, FHFA announced that it authorized Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to release over $376 million to the Housing Trust Fund operated by HUD and the Capital Magnet Fund operated by the Treasury Department.

Legislation passed in 2008 requires the GSEs to set aside an amount equal to 4.2 basis points of the unpaid principal balance of their new business for these affordable housing funds. FHFA suspended these payments shortly thereafter due to the poor financial condition of the GSEs, though it lifted this suspension in 2014.

MBA has long advocated for continued funding of these affordable housing initiatives as a critical step toward improved borrower access to credit, a reasonable requirement of GSEs with public charters, and a necessary component of any practical GSE reform effort.

For more information, please contact Dan Fichtler at (202) 557-2780.

House Financial Services Committee Focuses on the Fair Housing Act
On Tuesday, the House Financial Services Committee (HFSC) held a hearing on the state of fair housing and housing-related discrimination in America. The Committee heard testimony from representatives from the National Fair Housing Alliance, Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center, the National LGBTQ Task Force, Zillow Group, and the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. During Q&A, Chairwoman Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) focused her questions on lawsuits involving Facebook and technology-based discrimination in the housing market, while Rep. Ann Wagner (R-MO) discussed HUD’s need for impactful tools and resources to enforce the Fair Housing Act and misuses of Community Development Block Grants.

Four pieces of legislation were announced in conjunction with the hearing including theRestoring Fair Housing Protections Eliminated by HUD Act of 2018, the Equality Act of 2019, the Housing Fairness Act of 2019, and the Sexual Harassment Awareness and Prevention Act of 2018. The committee memorandum with summaries of the legislation can be found here.

For more information, please contact Dan Grattan at (202) 557-2712 or Bill Killmer at (202) 557-2736.

Legislation Approved to Combat Illegal Robocalls Heads to Full Senate
On Wednesday, the full Senate Commerce Committee approved S. 151, the Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act, by voice vote. Introduced by Senators John Thune (R-SD) and Ed Markey (D-MA), this bipartisan bill would amend the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) by requiring voice service providers to establish a call-authentication network to combat spoofing and significantly increase the penalties that the FCC can charge for violations of the statute. Senator Thune offered a substitute amendment for the measure during the committee markup, and Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS) further amended the bill by providing for a TCPA annual enforcement report. Both amendments were accepted by voice vote. The bill now moves to the Senate floor for consideration.

For more information, please contact Tallman Johnson at (202) 557-2866 or Bill Killmer at (202) 557-2736.

FASB Rejects Recommendation to Tweak CECL
On Wednesday, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) voted to reject a recommendation by a coalition of midsized banks to tweak some sections of CECL that would help eliminate confusion for auditors, investors, and the banks. FASB stated that the recommendation would force institutions and auditors to make complex judgments or decisions about whether loans qualified for a 12-month forecast. FASB also concluded that stakeholders had ample opportunity to raise these issues prior to finalization of CECL. While this conclusion essentially makes it clear that FASB is not open to making any complex tweaks to CECL before the 2020 implementation date, the Board did not mention whether it was considering delaying implementation, or whether it would consider any other tweaks that are not deemed to be too complex to be incorporated at this time. A recording of the meeting is available on FASB’s website. 

For more information, please contact Fran Mordi at (202) 557-2860.

Regulators Issue Additional FAQs and Answers on CECL
On Wednesday, the same day that FASB rejected recommendations from a coalition of midsized banks to tweak some aspects of CECL, the OCC, FDIC, Fed Reserve, and NCUA (the regulators) released a set of FAQs and answers on CECL implementation. The document updates answers to previously issued questions in response to recent developments. The questions and answers address a broad range of issues, including how CECL changes existing U.S. GAAP, which includes replacing the existing incurred loss methodology with CECL; stress test modeling and scenarios; internal control considerations related to data; and the continued relevance of concepts, processes, and practices in existing supervisory guidance on the allowance for loan and lease losses. It also provides updates on the recent amendment of CECL effective date for nonpublic business entities. 

For more information, please contact Fran Mordi at (202) 557-2860.

MBANow Discusses MLO Temporary Authority; Conference of State Bank Supervisors to Address Implementation at MBA Legal Issues Conference
In an MBANow video interview released this week, MBA staff discuss the implementation of MLO Temporary Authority, and the steps companies should be taking to prepare ahead of November 24, 2019, when the new law becomes operational. Specifically, state-licensed companies should be building expanded tracking systems to monitor new licensing activity by their MLOs and anticipating new operational contingencies that may be necessary under the new federal law. Many of these potential challenges are discussed in frequently asked questions released by state regulators on the NMLS.org website, and as a starting point all MLOs and state-licensed companies should review them. MBA will also host the staff from the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) at the upcoming MBA Legal Issues and Regulatory Compliance Conference in a dedicated session to review how implementation will work on the NMLS system. Lastly, MBA Education will also be holding webinars with CSBS that will be announced soon. 

For more information, please contact William Kooper at (202) 557-2737 or Kobie Pruittat (202) 557-2870.

Remote Online Notarization Progress Continues In States as Arizona Legislature Sends Bill to Governor
This week, following the unanimous approval by the Arizona Senate in February, the state’s House gave SB-1030 its unanimous approval. If signed by Governor Doug Ducey, the bill would authorize remote online notarization (RON) in the state. This early April action follows a month in which five states – Utah, Kentucky, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Idaho – enacted RON laws. If approved in Arizona, there will be 16 states that have established RON as a permissible method of performing notarizations for real estate finance transactions. SB-1030 follows the contours of the MBA-American Land Title Association (ALTA) model state RON bill, which, with the help of MISMO’s draft model RON implementation standards, is helping establish a national consensus among state policy makers for RON laws and rules. To view the model bill, all support materials for the MBA-ALTA campaign, and the latest RON developments, please visit MBA’s RON Resource Center. 

For more information, please contact William Kooper at (202) 557-2737 or Kobie Pruittat (202) 557-2870.

MBA Education Webinar on UMBS Readiness
Join MBA Education on April 10 for a look at UMBS readiness and the critical information your staff needs to be aware of. This webinar will provide an overview of the driving force behind the Single Security Initiative, how the structure of the mortgage industry will (and will not) change, and what mortgage lenders, servicers and third-party providers need to know to participate in the new To-Be-Announced (TBA) marketplace. Furthermore, attendees will develop an understanding of how the UMBS impacts sellers (mortgage bankers, originators, and aggregators) as well as origination, servicing, and hedging processes. To register for this webinar, please click here.

For more information, please contact Laura Vanegas at (202) 557-2785.