On June 29, 2017, the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing & Urban Affairs held its first or several hearings of the year on housing finance reform. The hearing, entitled “Principles of Housing Finance Reform” consisted of three witness panelists from the Mortgage Bankers Association, Housing Policy Counsel of the Financial Services Roundtable, and Center for Responsible Lending.
NAR submitted a statement highlighting that any new housing finance system must ensure that in all markets mortgage capital will always remain available for creditworthy Americans. Second, NAR stated that taxpayer dollars should be protected.
Furthermore, in order to shield taxpayers and ensure a steady flow of capital into the mortgage market in both good times and bad, NAR urged lawmakers to convert the Enterprises into government-chartered, nonshareholder owned authorities that are subject to tighter regulations on products, profitability, and minimal retained portfolio practices in a way that ensures the protection of taxpayer monies.