MHI Working with Agency Officials to Open Secondary Market for Personal Property Lending

MHI has been working with officials from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) to ensure the inclusion of personal property lending as part of Duty to Serve (DTS) requirements being developed for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Included in the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA; PL 110-289) was statutory language that the Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs), including Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, had a Duty to Serve three historically underserved housing markets: affordable housing, rural housing and manufactured housing.  The Duty to Serve provision directed the GSEs to develop programs and secondary market access for manufactured home loans, including those secured by personal property.

In 2010, FHFA released a proposed rule implementing the Duty to Serve requirement that would have excluded manufactured home personal property loans.  Then Acting FHFA Director Edward DeMarco, in his role as conservator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, prevented Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from entering into the personal property loan market.  Since that time, the rule has gone unimplemented.

With Mel Watt assuming the position of Director, FHFA is beginning to examine the possibility of requiring Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to provide secondary market access to manufactured home loans secured by personal property.  FHFA is expected to release a proposed rule this year, with regulations to be finalized in 2015.

MHI has provided formal comments and has been meeting with FHFA senior policy staff to discuss practical methods for serving this market.

MHI CFPB and Financial Services Updates

House Passes Privilege Legislation

Before leaving for the August Recess, the House of Representatives passed legislation (H.R. 5062) amending the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) – which is Title X of the Dodd-Frank Act – to provide protection against waiver of state and federal law privileges for non-depository institutions supervised by the CFPB.

The bill is intended to protect a nonbank that is examined by the CFPB but does not fall under a state banking regulator’s jurisdiction from a privilege waiver if the CFPB shares privileged information with the nonbank’s state regulator.  It received strong support from the American Financial Services Association (AFSA) and provides anti-waiver protection for “the sharing of information” with federal banking regulators, state banking regulators, or state regulators that “license, supervise, or examine the offering of consumer financial products or services.”

Government and Political News from Around the Nation

Alaska – Democratic gubernatorial candidate Byron Mallott (D) is dropping his bid for governor and is instead joining forces with Independent candidate Bill Walker (I).  Mallott will run as Walker’s lieutenant governor as independents against incumbent Gov. Sean Parnell (R). Democrats will not field a gubernatorial candidate this Fall.  Click here for more information.

Click here for more government and political news from around the nation.