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04/10/2008
| NAR Applauds Withdrawal of RESPA Regulation WASHINGTON - The National Association of Realtors® is applauding a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announcement today that the department is withdrawing its draft final rule on changes to the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act. In a March 22 letter to the Office of Management and Budget, which was reviewing the final rule, HUD Acting Secretary Alphonso Jackson said he was withdrawing the rule “due to the significant number of questions raised.” Jackson said in the letter that he was acting on the concerns of members of Congress, industry groups, and consumers. In fact, more than 250 members of Congress—Democrats and Republicans—had objected to HUD’s decision in December to put forth a final rule for OMB review. HUD has first proposed significant changes to RESPA two years ago, with the aim of creating an incentive for providers to offer packaged services. NAR had stridently opposed the changes on the grounds that they would have given an advantage to lenders in the packaging of settlement services without a clear benefit to consumers. “Congress acted to fulfill its responsibility to review the proposed regulation and ensure that it met the test of congressional intent,” said NAR President Walt McDonald in a statement released by NAR today. “More and more decisions affecting millions of homeowners are being made at the regulatory level today. It’s important that Congress continue to actively oversee the regulators.” McDonald said Sen.Wayne Allard (R-Colo.) and Reps. Judy Biggert (R-Ill.), Ruben E. Hinojosa (D-Texas), and Donald A. Manzullo (R-IL) “as well as the more than 250 members of Congress who weighed in on this issue deserve the gratitude of all Realtors® for the leadership they showed.” HUD remains committed to reforming RESPA, a 30-year-old law that was created to protect consumers in the settlement of loans. Jackson said in his letter that he will reexamine and possibly revise the rule and resubmit it for public comment before sending it back to OMB. NAR supports reforms that would keep a level playing field for service providers and put consumers first. “We look forward to continuing to work with Alphonso Jackson and the administration on efforts to reform RESPA,” McDonald said in his statement. ____________________________________________________________________ NAR's Statement to RESPA Rule Withdrawal The National Association of REALTORS® issued the following statement today by NAR President Walt McDonald on the administration's decision to withdraw the proposed rule on the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Read the full NAR statement on the withdrawal. U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Release HUD's proposal to make homebuying simpler, more transparent and more affordable continues to be a priority. Due to the importance of HUD's efforts to reform the regulatory provisions of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) and the extensive concerns from Members of Congress, consumer groups and the business community, Acting Secretary Jackson has withdrawn the rule from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Read the full HUD news release and the OMB response.
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