Tag Archives: The United States House of Representatives

Republicans in the House of Representatives are set to mark the four year anniversary of the controversial Dodd-Frank financial reform act with a 100 page report highlighting its perceived failures. Chief among those failures is the fact that the law did not accomplish its purported goal of ending the prospect that banks are “too big to fail.

The latest in a series of proposed GSE reforms was announced on Thursday. Congressional Representatives John K. Delaney (D-Maryland), John Carney (D-Delaware), and Jim Himes (D-Connecticut) introduced housing finance reform legislation, aimed at winding down Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and replacing them with a federally backed insurance program administered through Ginnie Mae.

Introduced last year by a bipartisan group of representatives led by Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-Michigan), H.R. 3211 (the "Mortgage Choice Act of 2013") would amend the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) to exempt fees from affiliated title companies from counting toward the 3 percent point and fee threshold established in the Qualified Mortgage (QM) rule implemented earlier this year. It would also clarify the treatment of insurance and taxes held in escrow.

Some changes may be on the horizon for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). The U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 3193, The Consumer Financial Freedom and Washington Accountability Act, which would bring more "accountability and transparency," according to Representative Sean Duffy (R-Wisc), the bill's sponsor.