Scotsman Guide - March 2010 Residential Edition

SENTIMENT AGAINST THE HOME VALUATION CODE OF CONDUCT (HVCC) DIDN’T
NECESSARILY STOP WITH HVCC-MORATORIUM BILLS STALLING AND SHAPE-SHIFT-
ING IN CONGRESS THIS WINTER.

And it didn’t end with the 35 boxes’ worth of signed anti-HVCC petitions that Marc Savitt and friends delivered to New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo’s office, either.

Instead, the code’s impact on mortgage brokers continues to be a cause célèbre for Savitt and the National Association of Independent Housing Professionals (NAIHP) — the new legislative lobbying group the former National Association of Mortgage Brokers (NAMB) president started in late 2009. By early February, Savitt had met with Cuomo’s office five times since the HVCC took effect in spring ’09. After the fifth, he says, he heard a Cuomo deputy say something promising: “We get it.” “I see brokers re-entering the picture of ordering appraisals if we can get an agreement with the attorney general’s office,” says Savitt, active with NAMB for more than a decade. “He’s the one who regulators look to on this issue. If we can agree, everyone else would follow.” That includes the Federal Housing Administration, whose HVCC-like appraisal-independence rules took effect in mid-February. Not to mention appraisal organizations and individual professionals who have adapted their procedures to meet these codes.

Which is precisely what Savitt says he has in mind for NAIHP, which he bills as an “umbrella group” for all small-business housing professionals, from brokers to builders and real estate agents. Its goal: Ensure all housing trades can align their priorities and get their issues on the table. And buy a big table: Savitt says he expects to have more than 100,000 members by the end of the year.

“There are some individuals who are upset with other trade associations and don’t think their voices are being heard,” he says. “They want someone who is going to be truly aggressive on Capitol Hill on their behalf.” In addition to Cuomo, Savitt says he also has met with representatives from Sen. Jeff Merkley’s, D-Ore., office about Merkley’s and other senators’ call for a yield-spread-premium ban. NAIHP is assembling a board and advocacy teams, too.

As for NAMB, Savitt says he’s still a member. And he’s still paying attention: In early February, he and NAIHP posted a message on naihp.org chiding NAMB’s for-profit arm for partnering with an appraisal-management company; NAMB and NAMB Enterprises Inc. did not return requests for comment by press time.

Earlier, Savitt said he had yet to meet with NAMB formally but plans to do so.

“Congress likes to play the divide-and-conquer game,” Savitt says. “If this industry remains united, then I think we can work together on these onerous rules and regulations and avoid unintended consequences.”

tonys@scotsmanguide.com

5 YEARS AGO

From March 2005’s
Scotsman Guide

“I look for account executives who are honest and trustworthy, keep commitments big and small, admit shortcomings, communicate concisely, enjoy their jobs, and speak positively about their positions and the company. If they are not, why work with them?”

— DELAINA MITCHELL, NO RED TAPE MORTGAGE “HELP ACCOUN T EXECS WORK FOR YOU: 7 TIPS”

sctsm.in/0260

Vie w this article and others in our free article archive at scotsmanguide.com.

FHA raises mortgage-insurance premium,
plus downpayment for low-score borrowers

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) announced in late January that it would tighten loan requirements to reduce risks and increase its capital reserves.

FHA said it would increase its mortgage-insurance premium to 2.25 percent effective this spring and then seek permission to increase the maximum for premiums further.

The changes require a public comment period before taking effect. The FHA proposed requiring borrowers with credit scores lower than 580 to supply a 10 percent downpayment. Those with higher credit scores still would qualify for a 3.5-percent downpayment, the FHA said.

Further, the proposals requiring a public-comment period include reducing seller concessions from 6 percent to 3 percent of the mortgage.

Existing-home sales end streak as
pending sales grow, new-home sales drop

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Sales of existing U.S. homes dropped as expected this past December, ending an eight-month upswing of month-to-month increases, the National Association of Realtors said.

Meanwhile, the Realtors group said pending home sales increased slightly in December with numbers still affected by the federal homebuyer tax credit. Sales of new single-family homes decreased 7. 6 percent this past December compared to November, the U. S. Commerce Department said.

Existing-home sales decreased 16. 7 percent between this past November and December. Despite the downturn, sales remained 15-percent greater than December in 2008.

The 1-percent increase in pending sales put pending home contracts at 10.9-percent greater than in December 2008, the Realtors group said.

Next release:

Pending home sales: March 4

Existing-home sales: March 23

New-home sales: March 24

Housing starts decrease in December,
but permit news could hint at uptick

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Housing starts dropped this past December, but permits issued increased from November, the U.S. Commerce Department said.

Housing starts decreased 4 percent between this past November and December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 557,000 homes. Housing starts also dropped 2 percent from December 2008.

While starts declined, permits issued increased by 10. 9 percent from this past November and 15. 8 percent from December 2008, indicating the building starts also could rebound in a month or two.

Bernanke confirmed for second
term as Federal Reserve chairman

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Senate confirmed Ben Bernanke’s second term as head of the Federal Reserve Bank by 70 votes to 30, a slim victory for a bank chairman.

The narrowest margin previously was 84 votes to 16 for former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker in 1983, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., called the vote a referendum on bailouts in a strange turnaround that had Republicans arguing to defeat Bernanke, who was chairman of President George W. Bush’s Council of Economic Advisers before Bush nominated him to replace longtime Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan in 2006.