Addressing the Mortgage Banker’s Association’s (MBA) annual convention, Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Tex), stating the Dodd-Frank Act is the real barrier to mortgage finance reform, says it could raise interest rates from one to four percentage points and reduce the number of mortgages by half. HousingWire reports the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee joined other Republicans in supporting the Protecting American Taxpayers and Homeowners Act (PATH) to potentially forestall Dodd-Frank. Hensarling says, “PATH Act reverses Dodd-Frank rules by providing lenders and other market participants with relief of litigation risks, ending points and fees, and prohibiting the GSEs and FHA from doing harmful business to taxpayers such as eminent domain.” While noting the 30-year fixed rate mortgage (FRM) will continue, the Path Act veers from other proposals in Congress in that it calls for the end of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in five years, MHProNews has learned. Decrying the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) need for a Treasury bailout to the tune of $1.7 billion, Hensarling says, “It’s time for housing finance reform, so we do not have to call on taxpayers once again to bailout a fundamentally flawed system again.”

(Photo credit: Wikipedia–Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Tex)