The Washington Report

In This Issue

Business Report
RESPA Case: Busby v. JRHBW Realty, Inc. d/b/a Realty South
Senators Durbin, Snowe, and Lincoln Introduce S.979, "The Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP)"

Commercial Finance Report
TALF Loans Extended to 5 Years

Conventional Residential Lending Report
REALTOR� Testifies on Foreclosure Rescue Scams
House Passes H.R. 1728, "The Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act of 2009"

RESPA Case: Busby v. JRHBW Realty, Inc. d/b/a Realty South

As a follow-up to last week's report on the Busby case, NAR Senior Vice-President and General Counsel, Laurie Janik, has provided analysis of the case for NAR members. NAR members can link to the NAR.org password-protected website page below to read Ms. Janik's article.

Janik article on Busby

Scott Rinn 202-383-7508, Marcia Salkin 202-383-1092, Kenneth Trepeta 202-383-1294

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Senators Durbin, Snowe, and Lincoln Introduce S. 979, "The Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP)"

On May 5, 2009, Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL), Senator Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), and Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) introduced legislation designed to make health insurance more available and affordable for the 14.0 million self-employed individuals, as well as the 47.0 million employees of the nation's 5.9 million small businesses, for consideration in the upcoming Congressional health care reform debate.

S. 979, the Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP), addresses the number one problem for many small businesses and the self-employed, the high cost of providing health care coverage, by:

Allowing the self-employed and small businesses to band together across state lines and spread the risk over a large number of participants in order to obtain lower premiums.
Providing tax credits for the self-employed and small business owners to offset contributions to employee premiums.
Banning health status rating in order to protect the self-employed and small businesses from large rate increases.

"NAR, for many years, has been advocating changes to the U.S. healthcare system that will make health care insurance more available and affordable to millions of self employed individuals and small businesses. We believe that the SHOP Act, reintroduced today by Senator's Durbin, Snowe and Lincoln, recognizes the unique challenges that face the nation's self-employed who have no employer to contribute to the cost of their health insurance premiums. The SHOP Act's reform concept provides a workable blueprint that must be incorporated into the larger debate and legislation of reforms to this nation's health care system," said Charles McMillan, NAR's President.

A diverse coalition of stakeholders from across the political spectrum and each with their own priorities for broader reform have joined together to support the SHOP bill. In addition to NAR, the bill was also endorsed by the National Federation of Independent Business, tthe Service Employees International Union, the National Partnership for Women & Families, Families USA, and the National Restaurant Association.

Marcia Salkin 202-383-1092, Ken Wingert 202-383-1196, Scott Rinn 202-383-7508

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TALF Loans Extended to 5 Years

The Federal Reserve Board issued an announcement on Friday, May 1st stating that, starting in June, commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) and securities backed by insurance premium finance loans will be eligible collateral under the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF). In February, the "intention" to expand the program to include CMBS was announced but policymakers have struggled with working out the operational details to accommodate this expansion. Along with the announcement to expand the TALF to accomodate CMBS, they will authorize TALF loans with maturities of five years. This change will be applicable for the June funding to finance purchases of CMBS.

Lisa Brechtel 202-383-1090, Jeff Lischer 202-383-1117

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REALTOR� Testifies on Foreclosure Rescue Scams

REALTOR� John Anderson of Crystal, MN testified before the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing last week on the topic of "Legislative Solutions for Preventing Loan Modification and Foreclosure Rescue Fraud." In his testimony, Mr. Anderson talked about the dangers of foreclosure and the devastating impact not just on homeowners but entire communities; and the growing problem of foreclosure rescue and loan modification scams. NAR offered a number of suggestions to prevent these. Among the solutions were requiring lenders and servicers to be more aggressive in pursuing foreclosure remedies with consumers; more widely publicizing legitimate foreclosure prevention programs; shortening the short sales process to families don't become prey for predatory actors; and enacting legislation to enable federal prosecution of the unscrupulous companies. The legislation that was being considered was H.R. 1231, the "Foreclosure Rescue Fraud Act of 2009", introduced by Rep. Moore (D-WI).

NAR Testimony on Foreclosure Rescue Scams

Megan Booth 202-383-1222, Tony Hutchinson 202-383-1120

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House Passes H.R. 1728, "The Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act of 2009"

On May 7, 2009, the House of Representatives passed the Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act of 2009, as amended, by a vote of 300 - 114. NAR is supportive of this bill because it protects both the consumer and housing sector. During his testimony before the House Financial Services Committee on April 23, 2009, NAR President Charles McMillan indicated the reason NAR supported the legislation, because "at its core, H.R. 1728 exhibits the principals that REALTORS� across the nation believe are required to restore consumer confidence in housing industry."

NAR awaits the companion bill for H.R. 1728 from the Senate - to date, no language has been put forward. As the movement continues to reform mortgage lending, the housing market and our nation's economy, NAR continues to reiterate to Congress, and our industry partners, that we stand ready to assist them.

Tony Hutchinson 202-383-1120, Jeff Lischer 202-383-1117

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Last Updated: 05/08/2009 Bira de Aquino