Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) president and CEO Bob Broeksmit said regulators should prioritize rolling back rules that raise costs as mortgage rates are likely to stay “stubbornly high” for the foreseeable future.
“A lot of burdensome regulations need to change,” Broeksmit said Monday at the MBA Secondary and Capital Markets Conference in New York. “Especially the ones that increase costs without providing much benefit or protection to Americans.”
Broeksmit pointed to several regulations the industry wants revisited. He said the loan officer compensation rule can limit lenders’ ability to offer better terms to borrowers who shop around, while calling for “targeted changes” to the qualified mortgage (QM) rule that would make it easier for lenders to refinance Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans. Broeksmit argued that TRID requirements impose compliance costs that aren’t justified by the benefits.
“Clearly, there are plenty of good ways to roll back red tape and make mortgages more affordable while still protecting borrowers,” Broeksmit said. “The White House has said that it wants to help community banks and smaller institutions. But they aren’t the only lenders who need relief from red tape. So do credit unions, IMBs, large banks, and many others.”
On homebuyer demographics, Broeksmit pushed back on headlines suggesting the median age of first-time homebuyers has risen to 40. He said MBA research still puts the figure between 32 and 34 years old—“basically unchanged for more than a decade.”
Even so, affordability remains a major hurdle. With mortgage rates expected to remain elevated, Broeksmit said other reforms become even more important to improving access to homeownership.
He also noted that MBA has recently increased its focus on the non-agency market, including forming a non-agency forum and convening a peer roundtable for companies active in non-agency and non-QM lending—an area he said is drawing greater regulatory attention.
Basel III and housing legislation
On Basel III bank capital requirements, Broeksmit said the current proposal is “far superior” to the prior version. He said a 250% risk weight on mortgage servicing rights (MSRs) is excessive, with MBA advocating for a return to the current 100% level. He also said the association is pushing for better treatment of warehouse lending.
“Under the current system, warehouse lines carried a 100% risk weight, but that defies logic,” Broeksmit said. “If an IMB fails to repay, a bank gets the whole loan, but at only a 50% risk weight. Are you kidding me? The risk weights shouldn’t improve when a counterparty fails!”
Broeksmit added that the MBA is “strongly calling on agencies to change the capital requirements for banks” that hold portfolio loans backed by private mortgage insurance.
Turning to the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, Broeksmit said much of the bill is constructive, including provisions that better recognize modular and manufactured housing. But he criticized a ban on institutional investors, arguing it would reduce housing supply.
“A ban would lead to less new rental home construction, thereby decreasing the supply of available homes overall,” he said. “But that’s a guaranteed recipe for higher prices.”
He noted that House Financial Services Committee Chairman French Hill and Ranking Member Maxine Waters reached an agreement last week to advance an amended version of the bill to the House floor. The changes would clarify and expand exemptions to the institutional investor ban for build-to-rent and attached/contiguous multifamily properties.
With lawmakers soon leaving Washington to campaign for the midterms, Broeksmit said the short window makes it unlikely Congress will take up GSE reform before the end of the year.
Flávia Furlan Nunes reported and wrote this article with drafting assistance from HousingWire Automation, an editorial tool that helps transform announcements and industry data into HousingWire-style news coverage.
