To help Americans continue to achieve their dreams of homeownership, there must be a balance between safeguarding consumers in the lending process and ensuring reasonable access to mortgage capital. That is the message that the National Association of Realtors® delivered to Congress today, reiterating its support of comprehensive legislation to reform mortgage lending.
NAR believes the current definition of mortgage originator as “any person who assists a consumer in obtaining or applying to obtain a residential mortgage loan” is too broad, since Realtors® as part of their normal level of service provide advice, counsel and assistance across all aspects of the real estate transaction. In addition, NAR supports the safe harbor provisions in the legislation, but as written, these provisions may be too narrow.
“The safe harbor should include more products than 30-year fixed-rate mortgages. We need to protect more home buyers from risky lending products, and that requires some flexibility in financing terms,” McMillan said.
NAR also believes that a strong and independent appraisal industry is vital to restoring faith in the mortgage origination process. “H.R. 1728 strikes a good balance by strengthening the accountability and oversight of appraisers while creating new consumer protections,” said McMillan.
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