The U.S. Senate released its heath-care proposal today which comes in with a far smaller price tag than the earlier draft legislation carried. This proposal would keep more people in employer-sponsored health plans and cost far less than an earlier version of the proposal that drew heavy criticism.  The new proposal would cost $611.4 billion over 10 years while an earlier draft would have cost $1 trillion over the 2010-2019 period.  The price of the bill does not include the expense of expanding eligibility for the low-income Medicaid program nor the potential cost savings from new Medicare payment proposals.    ...
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With its budget gap growing and the state facing a massive cash crisis, California has approved using registered warrants or “IOUs” to pay vendors and taxpayers. This is only the second time the state has adopted the emergency payment method since the Great Depression. Officials authorized the measure allowing the state to issue the registered warrants in lieu of cash payments to vendors, local agencies and individuals owed money. The IOUs have a 3.75 percent interest rate and an ...
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The Obama Administration’s hope of revamping the nation’s healthcare system faces some major stumbling blocks: cost, creating a government-run plan, taxing workers' benefits and penalizing employers that don't offer coverage. All of these items are potential deal-breakers and a big blowup over any single one could threaten the entire legislation. Covering nearly 50 million Americans won't come cheap. Estimated costs run close to $2 trillion and will cost the United States about $35 trillion during the 10-year span of the legislation if costs don’t increase exponentially. Businesses currently provide coverage to more than 160 million people ev ...
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Freddie Mac has announced the highlights of several improvements being developed for its Relief Refinance Mortgage product under the Obama Administration's Making Home Affordable Program. Once Freddie makes the changes effective, borrowers will be able to refinance a Freddie Mac mortgage with any lender affiliated with the company ("Open Access"), not just the current servicer ("Same Servicer"). Fannie Mae already allows refinancing with any Fannie-approved servicer. If borrowers with Freddie loans choose not to use their current servicer, the new mortgage must be fully underwritten and meet all Freddie Mac eligibility, underwriting, appraisal, and documentation requi ...
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The health reform debate continues to lurch forward, but no reliable information is available to indicate where Congress might search for the additional new revenues to pay for the reforms. The Administration continues to press its proposal to limit the value of itemized deductions for upper income taxpayers, but neither Chairman Baucus nor Chairman Rangel has embraced that approach. The attached New York Times article lays out the revenue issues facing the committees. The Congressional Research Service (CRS), the nonpartisan arm of Congress, has released a report on the various proposals for new revenues for health care reform. CRS comments about the mortgage interest deduction are notewort ...
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The Obama Financial Regulatory Reform Plan, announced on June 17, 2009, would change the regulation of all lenders and their holding companies, give the Federal Reserve Board supervisory power over large and complex entities that pose a systemic risk to the financial system, create a new consumer protection agency, and provide for managing future financial crises. Key objectives include restoring consumer and investor confidence in the nation's financial system. Of particular interest to REALTORS®, the plan would strengthen the national policy against mixing banking and commerce and create a Consumer Financial Protection Agency to consolidate the regulation of consumer protection law ...
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The US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced increases in the dollar amounts of energy efficient improvements in the Federal Housing Administration's (FHA) Energy Efficient Mortgage (EEM) Program. These changes are made in accordance with the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA). Mortgagee Letter 2009-18 provides guidance to approved mortgagees on the new statutorily authorized maximum mortgage amounts for the program. In addition to the FHA maximum mortgage amount limit the mortgage loan amount for an EEM can be increased by the cost of effective energy improvements. The maximum amount of the portion of the EEM for energy improvements is the lesser of 5 ...
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This week the New Hampshire State Senate and House of Representatives narrowly supported a state budget that does not include a tax on mortgage refinancing.   As New Hampshire, like many other states, tries to close a massive budget deficit, one of the ideas suggested by some elected officials was to expand the existing 1.5% real estate transfer tax to include mortgage refinancing. Currently, New Hampshire has the highest uniform real estate transfer tax rate of any state in the country. Opponents of the measure claim that asking a homeowner who is already struggling to pay his or her mortgage to pay several hundred additional dollars in refinancing closing costs is unfai ...
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Recently, U.S. lawmakers asked Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae to loosen recently tightened standards for mortgages on new condominiums. In March, Fannie Mae said it would no longer guarantee mortgages on condos in buildings where fewer than 70 percent of the units have been sold, up from 51 percent. Freddie Mac is due to implement similar policies next month, the paper said. The concern over the new standards is that they could further impede the slow recovery of  the housing-market as the 70 percent threshold could be too burdensome and could further negatively impact the condominium maket. In addition to the 70 percent sales threshold, Fannie Mae also will not purchase mort ...
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In discussions between NAR and Fannie Mae, Fannie Mae has reconfirmed its short sale commission policy and established a process for REALTORS® to follow if issues arise. On February 24, 2009, Fannie Mae sent Announcement 09-03 to its servicers instructing them not to negotiate commissions on short sales below the amount negotiated by the listing agent, unless the commission exceeds 6 percent. The Announcement reminded servicers that third party approvals (i.e., private mortgage insurers) may be required and can affect commissions. In response to concerns raised by NAR that some servicers of Fannie Mae loans are unaware of this policy or believe it is not binding, Fannie Mae has establish ...
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