Tag Archives: Barack Obama

The Obama administration rolled out an ambitious package of benefits and structural changes Wednesday for homeowners who want to refinance their loans. The plan would cost anywhere from $5 billion to $10 billion and pay for itself with fees exacted from financial institutions. If it makes it into law, the bill would significantly expand refinancing opportunities for underwater borrowers, shift appraisal responsibilities in distressed neighborhoods to an automated system under the GSEs, and offer new servicing reforms.

A new federal task group set up to investigate residential mortgage-backed securities fraud made progress Friday when officials signed off on subpoenas for 11 undisclosed financial institutions. Numerous high-ranking federal officials joined New York Attorney General and co-chair Eric Schneiderman at a press conference to outline the Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities Working Group, which President Barack Obama announced he would form during his State of the Union address Thursday.

President Barack Obama used his State of the Union address Wednesday to tout his accomplishments and propose several new housing ventures, including possible expansions to refinance programs, consumer financial protection, and new federal initiatives to combat abusive lending practices. The speech weighed in on risky lending practices in particular and went after Republicans for their opposition to his policies, including consumer financial protection. Experts remain on the sidelines about an expanded refinance program.

Ahead of the primary in South Carolina Saturday, Republican presidential hopefuls will compete for the chance for a face off with President Barack Obama ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô a contest remarkably lacking in housing proposals for one that will take place in 15 battleground states with slipshod home values. The Progressive Policy Institute issued a policy brief Friday that said home values have fallen by 16 percent since October 2008, and that ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô despite a correspondingly steep drop in household wealth ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô few voters should expect candidates from either party to address housing finance reform in the election.

And then there were five. Republican presidential hopeful and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman threw his support Monday behind frontrunner and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Not unlike his fellow candidates ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô or the incumbent himself ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô Huntsman left out any mention of housing finance reform and homeowners as issues for voters in the 2012 general election. Recent polls suggest that the political will exists to make housing finance policy a platform issue. MReport speaks with the experts to better understand housing finance policy and politics.

The Justice Department issued a legal opinion Thursday in which it backed President Barack Obama's decision to recess appoint Richard Cordray director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau last week. The agency wrote that three-day pro forma sessions fail to constitute an actual session for the Senate. Obama riled the industry when he appointed Cordray and several others despite three-day sessions in which several lawmakers would meet without filing motions to consider nominees or legislation. Critics charge that the decision breaks with years of legal precedent under the agency.

Twenty-eight California Democrats urged President Barack Obama Wednesday to sidestep Congress by recess-appointing another agency director ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô this time for the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Democratic signers criticized the FHFA for failing to assist more homeowners and prevent foreclosures, beginning with an energy program described by the members of Congress as one that would lower energy payments and help Americans afford their mortgages. Last week Obama bypassed Republican opposition by recess-appointing Richard Cordray.

President Barack Obama stopped by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau earlier Friday to welcome the staff and new director Richard Cordray. The chief executive sent shockwaves around the mortgage servicing and lending industries Wednesday by making the controversial decision to recess appoint Cordray as CFPB director. The move bypassed lawmakers in the Senate, namely 44 Republicans that vowed earlier this year to block any nominee for the bureau, no matter the party affiliation.

The U.S. economy soldiered ahead by adding 200,000 jobs over December, lowering the unemployment rate to 8.5 percent as more employers picked up seasonal staff members for the holidays. The Labor Department reported Friday that total private-sector employment reached 212,000 last month, alongside fewer jobs for local and state governments, marginal declines in real estate services, and a notable pickup in residential construction around the country. Real estate, rental and leasing services lost jobs by 1.3 percent on average in December.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau made clear Thursday that it will exercise its full authority to supervise a host of nonbank financial entities, with mortgage originators, brokers, servicers, and others in plain view. The bureau, newly empowered by Richard Cordray├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós recess appointment Wednesday, offered up a video in which the new director addressed a virtual audience Thursday. The bureau released an 800-plus-page manual for nonbank examiners detailing their examination procedures, which focus on an entity├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós volume of business, services, and products.