National News

Thursday, May 20, 2010

The Georgia Department of Banking and Finance (Department) has just received confirmation from the U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the federal administrator of the S.A.F.E. Mortgage Licensing Act of 2008, that individuals may continue to conduct business as mortgage loan originators without being licensed until the close of business on July 31, 2010. Therefore, in an effort to minimize possible interruptions in employment the Department will allow loan originators lawfully employed by Georgia mortgage brokers and lenders to continue to work in the industry until the close of business on July 31, 2010, unless they have been notified otherwise by the Department.

Please Note: All complete applications for mortgage loan originator licenses that were received by the Department prior to the close of business on April 16, 2010, will be reviewed and acted upon prior to July 31, 2010. All complete applications for mortgage loan originator licenses received after April 16, 2010, will be reviewed and acted upon on a first come, first serve basis AFTER all the applications received prior to the April 16, 2010, have been processed.

Please be aware that the longer an individual waits to send a complete application to the Department, the greater the likelihood exists that an interruption in his or her employment will occur. All mortgage loan originators that have not had their applications acted upon by this Department by close of business July 31, 2010, must cease operating as a mortgage loan originator until the Department has reviewed and acted upon their applications.

Additionally, it is requested that mortgage loan originators refrain from calling the Department to ask for status updates regarding licensure. The Department is working very diligently to process thousands of applications that have been filed and must direct the full efforts of its limited staff to executing this function. Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.

GSE Loan Limits Extended

On October 29, 2009, the House and Senate passed legislation to extend government sponsored enterprises (GSEs) loan limits until December 31, 2010. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) can back loans as large as $729,750. President Obama is expected to sign the legislation soon. NAMB has advocated the extension of these loan limits in House and Senate testimony and letters to Congress.

NAMB Supports Extension of First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit

On November 2, 2009, NAMB sent a letter to the House of Representatives and the Senate requesting that they support the extension of the $8,000 First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit. H.R. 3640, introduced by Representative Travis Childers (D-MS), would expand the tax credit to be made available for all prospective homebuyers, and allow for a one year extension of the program, changing the sunset date to December 1, 2010. NAMB supports any legislation in the Senate that would seek to extend the program. Click here for a copy of the letter sent to the House of Representatives. Click here for the letter sent to the Senate.

NAMB CEO Quoted in HVCC Article

On October 31, 2009, NAMB CEO was quoted in an article by syndicated columnist Ken Harney entitled, “Home appraisal system could be dustbin-bound.” The article highlighted the amendment attached to H.R. 3126 that calls for the Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC) to be terminated early in the existence of a proposed new Consumer Financial Protection Agency. The amendment would require the agency's director to replace the code with an improved set of rules developed through the regular administrative procedures, with public comment periods, used by all federal agencies.

DeLoach was quoted as saying that the current effect of the HVCC "is that we now have a dysfunctional system that's holding back the housing recovery. Incompetent, low appraisals not only hurt individual sales, but depress property values in entire neighborhoods unfairly."

DeLoach also stated that NAMB will continue to fight the HVCC even if H.R. 3126 is not signed into law. "…a major committee of Congress has now sent a clear message" to Fannie and Freddie: "Your appraisal code is not acceptable."

For a full copy of the article, click here.

YSP Webinar Video Available

Please visit www.namb.org/YSPWebinar to view NAMB's webinar on YSP and Originator Compensation.