The Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs has scheduled two more hearings in its series of hearings on housing finance reform. The fourth and fifth hearings will be held during the week of October 28.“Housing Finance Reform: Essentials of a Functioning Housing Finance System for Consumers” will be held on October 29 at 10 am in room 538 of the Dirksen Senate office building. Scheduled witnesses are Eric Stein of the Center for Responsible Lending; Rohit Gupta, Genworth Financial; Gary Thomas, National Association of Realtors; Alys Cohen, National Consumer Law Center; Laurence Platt of K&L Gates, LLP; and Lot Diaz, National Council of La Raza. Mr. Lot is a member of the NLIHC board of directors.
On October 31 at 10 am in room 538 of the Dirksen Senate office building, a hearing entitled “Housing Finance Reform: Essentials Elements of a Federal Guarantee for Mortgage-Backed Securities” will be held. Witnesses are to be: Joseph Tracy of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York; Phillip L. Swagel, University of Maryland School of Public Policy; and David H. Stevens of the Mortgage Bankers Association.
Committee Chair Tim Johnson (D-SD) and Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-ID) are working to craft a bipartisan bill on the future of federal housing finance policy. Several more hearings are expected to be held in the next month. The Center for American Progress (CAP) has released four new fact sheets related to housing finance reform that are useful guides for advocates. They are: “Maintaining Core Functions of the Housing Finance System,” “The Importance of the To-Be-Announced, or TBA, Market,” “What is at Stake in Housing Finance Reform,” and “Housing Finance Reform: Affordable Rental Housing at Stake.” Read the fact sheets at: http://bit.ly/1idDOZt