LATimes.com

  Uncle Sam is about to take a first tentative step out of the mortgage business by lowering the size of home loans that the federal government will guarantee, and it's already hitting California neighborhoods with higher costs and bigger down payments.   The downward adjustments have ignited outcries from California politicians and sparked a campaign by the state's largest real estate group and its national partner to extend the higher limits; they argue that the Golden State's housing market and economy can ill-afford another setback to recovery.   "This is just going to kill us," said Beth L. Peerce, president of the California A...

From Housingwire.com

  The California Association of Realtors wants Gov. Jerry Brown to sign a bill that would increase accountability of licensees managing real estate sales offices. The California Department of Real Estate currently cannot hold an office manager responsible for failing to supervise licensees in the office. Current law only allows the state regulator to hold the principal broker responsible, even in situations where that broker has delegated supervisorial responsibilities to an office manager. "This bill will ensure that California consumers receive the protections to which they’re entitled when they walk into a real estate sales office," ...

REALTOR.org

A proposed rule by federal regulators to impose a minimum 20 percent down payment, stringent debt-to-income ratio requirements and rigid credit standards will deny millions of Americans access to safe, low-cost mortgages, according to the National Association of REALTORS. In a comment letter submitted today, NAR expressed dissatisfaction over the unduly narrow definition of qualified residential mortgages (QRM) that would be exempt from risk retention requirements. Non-QRM mortgages will have higher interest rates and fees, making home ownership more expensive or unattainable for many aspiring home owners. NAR urged regulators to withdraw the proposed risk retention rule and go back t...

CAR

CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® applauds Gov. Brown on signing SB 458 into law LOS ANGELES (July 15) – The CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) applauds Gov. Jerry Brown on signing SB 458 (Corbett) into law.   SB 458 extends the protections of SB 931 (2010), to ensure that any lender that agrees to a short sale must accept the agreed upon short sale payment as payment in full of the outstanding balance of all loans. Under previous law (SB 931 of 2010), a first mortgage holder could accept an agreed-upon short sale payment as full payment for the outstanding balance of the loan, but unfortunately, the rule did not apply to junior lien holders. SB...

Inman News

Republicans on the House Financial Services Committee have drafted legislation that would raise the minimum down payment for FHA mortgages to 5 percent, cut FHA loan limits in most markets, and move the Agriculture Department's Rural Housing Program to FHA's parent agency, HUD. Though the draft bill has not been introduced, titled or assigned a number, it is expected to be the main subject of a hearing Wednesday before the Subcommittee on Insurance, Housing and Community Opportunity, chaired by Rep. Judy Biggert, R-Ill. After that, the bill is likely to be formally introduced and sped through subcommittee and committee votes and head for action by the full House. Clic...

NAR

In a small but important development, banking regulators agree to push back the deadline for public comment on their controversial 20-percent minimum down payment proposal. NAR has been talking a lot about the qualified residential mortgage (QRM) proposal in recent months. That’s because of its severe consequences to home sales if it gets carried out. The proposal would require lenders to retain 5 percent of the value of loans they originate (for loans that are securitized, excluding Fannie and Freddie)) unless the loans have at least 20 percent down. If they meet that down payment requirement and other stiff underwriting requirements, the 5 percent risk retention requiremen...