White House gets on RESPA bandwagon
Posted in RESPA reform By Matt Carter, Thursday, September 18, 2008.Do you suppose this is the first time in history a White House press secretary has ever uttered the word "RESPA?"
From Inman News opinion piece:
White House Press Secretary Dana Perino, asked by a reporter Wednesday if the Bush administration's "deregulatory approach" helped create the housing and financial market meltdown, deflected blame to Congress.
Perino said Congressional lawmakers have thwarted HUD's attempts to overhaul the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), and only passed legislation to modernize FHA and strengthen oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac after years of haggling.
"We've been calling for years for GSE reform, and Congress did not act until there was a crisis at hand," Perino said. "We asked for RESPA reform, which would help people clarify their closing costs, so that everybody understands exactly what they're getting into. Congress failed to act. We are now in the middle of a rule-making process that the Democrats are trying to block. There's FHA modernization that we asked for, so that we could improve that agency. We didn't get that legislation until there was a crisis."
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Submitted by Bruce Hahn on September 18, 2008 - 5:14pm.
American Homeowners Grassroots Alliance
The Administration deserves credit for supporting HUD's RESPA reforms against the lobbying pressures of lenders and others, and for pushing GSE reforms against opposition from Congress. They also deserve much credit for supporting the Justice Department's and the FTC's efforts to stop anticompetitive practices in the real estate services sector at the national, state and local levels.
It's a shame that the good work on these issues has been far overshadowed by the dire consequences of the Administration's failure to recognize the growing threat of the subprime mortgage meltdown early on, and utilize regulatory tools at its disposal to stop many of the lending practices that were its primary cause.
Submitted by Dave Wirsching on September 18, 2008 - 6:10pm.
I'm confused, exactly what has this administration done to "stop anti-competitive practices?"
Submitted by Matt Carter on September 19, 2008 - 7:50am.
Dana Perino hauled out RESPA for a second day in a row, as part of her response at a White House press briefing Thursday to "finger pointing" by Democrats. This time, she also took a shot at explaining what the acronym RESPA stands for: "We wanted rules -- they're called RESPA rules, I can't remember what it stands for, it's Real Estate Settlement Act -- but it would help people understand what they're getting into when they have a loan. Unfortunately they didn't act on that." Hmmm... the Real Estate Settlement Act. Isn't that what started the 1889 Oklahoma land rush? Nice try Dana -- I sometimes forget "procedures" too when I haven't written it out in a while.Submitted by Bruce Hahn on September 21, 2008 - 9:26am.
American Homeowners Grassroots Alliance
Re: "I'm confused, exactly what has this administration done to "stop anti-competitive practices?"
The FTC and/or Dept. of Justice have successfully overturned state regs. that would deny home buyers the ability to receive commission rebates or eliminate flat fee "list only" brokers. They have helped us convince state legislatures not to pass legislation that would achieve the same results in several instances. DoJ also forced NAR to back down from industry regs that would constrain consumer choices.