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In this Issue |
December 2020 Edition |
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State News & EventsLegislative Update |
 Dear WMBA Members, I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season. With the new year upon us, this is a time that many of us reflect on the past year and look forward to what the new year has to bring. I have heard many people say that they just want to forget about 2020 and move on to 2021. 2020 was a tough year but, it was a year that taught us many things and, in many ways, will improve the way we work as we move forward. We have learned that working remotely is a possibility and not something to be afraid of. We have learned that technology can be our friend and, if we are not up to date, our nemesis. It has taught us about patience. 2020 put us all under stresses that we have not seen before that have taught us valuable lessons. I know that I have learned a lot about myself and I am sure you have as well. We have been in a very dark place for what seems like a very long time. As we take the lessons we have learned in 2020 and look forward to 2021, all I can say is the future looks bright. We have a real estate market that is thriving, low rates that appear to be sticking around for a while, and a vaccine that will hopefully bring an end to the pandemic. We still have a lot of work to do but, the future looks bright. As we close out 2020 and move into 2021, I would like to take a minute to thank all of the people on the WMBA Board of Directors, the Executive team, the guys and gals at The Firm, Morgan Data and all the members of the WMBA. You are what makes this organization great! Best wishes, Rob Helvey  Rob Helvey WMBA President 2020-2021 Vice President Manager of Mortgage Lending Waukesha State Bank rhelvey@waukeshabank.com 262-549-8527 |
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| 2021 Lender's Down Payment Assistance Training | |||
The Wisconsin Mortgage Bankers Association and Home Buyers Round Table of Dane County are offering training for lenders to make you aware of the various products available for your buyers. Sessions will cover down payment assistance options available in the City of Madison, Dane and surrounding counties and statewide.  |
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AM Session Registration Registration Deadline - February 17, 2021 |
PM Session Registration Registration Deadline - February 17, 2021 |
For chapter updates, go to the Madison Chapter page.
MBA: Advocacy Update - End of 2020 Report
Introduction
In 2020, MBA was at the forefront of advocacy for the real estate finance industry. Specifically, MBA led the charge to delay and narrow the scope of the GSE Adverse Market Refinance Fee. This included leading a broad coalition in opposition to the near-immediate implementation of the fee. Members of MBA’s Mortgage Action Alliance (MAA) sent more than 85,000 emails to Congress, which generated strong bipartisan and bicameral opposition. MBA’s advocacy on Capitol Hill resulted in a number of letters to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) discouraging implementation of the fee, including: (1) a letter from the Chairs of the Financial Services Committee and its Housing Subcommittee; (2) a bipartisan letter of over 40 House members; (3) a letter from the Senate Banking Chairman; and (4) a letter from the Senate Banking Ranking Member and 14 other Democratic senators.
Our efforts saved lenders and consumers an estimated $750 million in fees on the locked and unlocked portions of the existing pipeline of loans.
Additionally, MBA achieved long-advocated process reforms from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) that will help reduce “regulation by enforcement.” While engaging regulators on this matter, MBA also educated members of Congress on the need for CFPB reforms in anticipation of congressional oversight hearings and briefings, ensuring relevant questioning for the Congressional Record. The Bureau has announced an advisory opinion program, no-action letter program, and trial disclosure program to better help regulated entities understand their obligations and end the practice of regulation by enforcement. MBA advocated for these specific changes and other process reforms in our Roadmap to CFPB 2.0 white paper.
MBA Working for You
LEGISLATIVE AND POLITICAL WINS
On Capitol Hill, MBA secured bipartisan support for a proposed liquidity facility for mortgage servicers as well as legislation to ensure loans experiencing early payment forbearance are purchased by the GSEs and insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) without increased pricing – proposals that passed in the House via a number of COVID-19 relief packages.
Additionally, because of MBA’s engagement on Capitol Hill, MBA Chair-Elect Kristy Fercho was invited to testify before the House Financial Services Committee on the industry’s coronavirus relief efforts.
MBA also expanded Remote Online Notarization (RON) adoption to 28 states as part of MBA’s campaign for nationwide adoption, with an additional four states added in 2020. The momentum of this campaign helped fuel the introduction of bipartisan, bicameral legislation in Congress with approximately 80 sponsors in the Senate and the House combined.
REGULATORY WINS
Rapidly secured fixes to problems arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic. MBA achieved implementation of policies and programs supporting servicer liquidity, obtained changes to origination and servicing requirements, secured guidance and no-action letters from state regulators to allow MLOs and other employees to work from home, and created a safe harbor for the servicing of loans in accordance with federal standards in key state-level pandemic response bills.
Successfully advocated for changes to the QM rule to replace the expiring “QM Patch” while preserving access to credit for borrowers with higher debt-to-income ratios, the self-employed, and gig-economy workers. CFPB also established a QM framework for seasoned loans with three years of timely payment history. The final versions of both rules reflect several important recommendations made in MBA comment letters.
Reduced False Claims Act risk for FHA lenders by securing revisions to the Annual and Loan-Level certifications, as well as implementation of a defect taxonomy that ensures remedies are appropriate for the severity of the origination error.
Expanded eligibility for FHA’s Claims Without Conveyance of Title program, which will increase the use of direct conveyance, improve the bid process, and reduce servicing costs and reconveyance risks for FHA servicers.
Secured changes to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s (OCC) final Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) rules. The proposed rule would have provided only partial credit for mortgage banking activities and would have created a disincentive for home mortgage lending activities in CRA assessments.
Enacted Remote Online Notarization legislation in five additional states in 2020 (bringing the total to 28 states) and secured temporary remote notary provisions in more than 40 states during the pandemic.
In 2020, MBA members – through the Mortgage Action Alliance, MORPAC, and grassroots/grasstops engagement – stepped up their involvement and helped deliver MBA’s advocacy message.
MORTGAGE ACTION ALLIANCE (MAA)
Overall MAA Statistics:
68,000 active MAA members – more than tripling active membership this year
Over 120 MAA company and state/local association campaigns in 2020
10 companies with over 1,000 MAA members
Four companies with over 2,000 MAA members
MAA members have sent more than 140,000 letters to elected officials urging action on key issues – a 2,000% increase over 2019
100% of U.S. Senate offices contacted
99% of U.S. House offices contacted
Over half of the nation’s governors contacted
Average response rate of 14.5% on state and federal calls to action
MAA Response to the FHFA Adverse Market Refinance Fee
MAA set a record response rate with more than 23,500 members sending more than 85,000 messages to their elected officials.
100% of senators and 99% of representatives were contacted, resulting in the delayed implementation of the fee, complete exemptions for low-income refinances, and total MAA membership gaining 13,000 additional members.
MORPAC
In the 2019-2020 fundraising cycle, MORPAC set single-year and single-cycle fundraising records, with more than $2.6 million this cycle and over $1.5 million in 2020 alone.
MORPAC has raised over $400,000 (a single-year record) from over 1,000 new contributors.
MORPAC has hosted four virtual fundraising events, which feature a newly designed interactive fundraising page to recreate the peer-to-peer solicitation environment at traditional, in-person MORPAC events.
More than 30 professional organizations have run successful MORPAC company campaigns representing MBA’s single-family and commercial/multifamily lenders, law firms, and vendors across the country, with company campaigns accounting for 50% of funds raised.
14 new companies ran campaigns and invested in MORPAC in 2020.
Four companies have raised over $80,000 and two of those companies raised over $100,000 in voluntary contributions from their employees in company campaigns this year.
The third annual MORPAC Action Week also set fundraising records with eight concurrent company campaigns, securing 400 donors and raising $350,932 in one week.
According to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), MORPAC is nationally ranked among trade association PACs – #13 in total dollars raised and #9 in total dollars contributed to federal candidates and committees.
MORPAC has contributed over $2.3 million to House and Senate candidates and national party committees, which allows us to build and strengthen our political clout among key elected officials in both congressional chambers and across the political spectrum.
Virtual Grasstops In-District Meetings
MAA hosted an Advocacy in August campaign and connected more than 100 MAA members with their elected officials to discuss key industry issues.
Please Note: MBA's Offices will be closed on Thursday, December 24, 2020, and will reopen on Monday, January 4, 2021. The next edition of the Advocacy Update will be released on January 8, 2021.
Happy Holidays!
MBA: Homebuyer demand for mortgages eases to end a record-breaking 2020
PUBLISHED WED, DEC 23 20207:00 AM EST
Diana Olick@IN/DIANAOLICK@DIANAOLICKCNBC@DIANAOLICK
KEY POINTS
- Mortgage applications to purchase a home fell 5% for the week but were 26% higher than the same week one year ago.
- Low rates continue to fuel refinance volume, which rose 4% for the week and was a stunning 124% higher than a year ago.
Mortgage demand ended the year significantly higher than 2019, but appears to be cooling off a bit for the holidays. Total mortgage application volume rose 0.8% last week compared with the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index.
Mortgage rates ended just 1 basis point higher than the latest record low. The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($510,400 or less) increased to 2.86% from 2.85%, with points remaining unchanged at 0.33 (including the origination fee) for loans with a 20% down payment. That is a full percentage point lower than it was a year ago.
Low rates continue to fuel refinance volume, which rose 4% for the week and was a stunning 124% higher than a year ago. The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 74.8% of total applications from 72.7% the previous week.
“Last week’s increase in refinance applications was driven by FHA and VA activity, while conventional refinances saw a slight decline,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s associate vice president of economic and industry forecasting.
Mortgage applications to purchase a home fell 5% for the week but were 26% higher than a year ago. That is the second decrease in three weeks, as potential buyers run up against a severe housing shortage and fast-rising prices. The supply of homes for sale at the end of November fell to a record low, according to a report Tuesday from the National Association of Realtors.
The average loan balance for purchase applications last week set another record high at $376,800. That’s because the bulk of the sales activity is on the higher end of the market, where supply is more plentiful. The low end is seeing the weakest supply and the strongest price gains, hurting affordability.
“There are still signs of relative strength in the housing market as 2020 ends. However, housing affordability will be worth monitoring next year,” Kan said.
