Realtors(R), Housing and Finance Experts Address Mortgage Crisis
WASHINGTON, May 13 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — With the goal of helping
more families keep their homes rather than lose them to foreclosure,
Federal Housing Administration Commissioner Brian Montgomery, Office of
Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight Director James Lockhart and Harvard
University Director and former House Financial Services Chairman Jim Leach
addressed a crowd of more than 400 Realtors(R) at the National Association
of Realtors(R) Midyear Legislative Meeting & Trade Expo today.
“Realtors(R) care as much about keeping families in their homes as they
do about helping them find the home of their dreams,” said NAR President
Dick Gaylord, a broker with RE/MAX Real Estate Specialists in Long Beach,
Calif. “We hope that this week’s dialogue with members of Congress and key
administrators will achieve real results for current and aspiring
homeowners and help stabilize the market.”
More than 9,000 Realtors(R) from across the country are convening in
Washington, D.C., this week to call for new policies that will help restore
stability in the home mortgage system and, in turn, re-instill confidence
in the housing market. Realtors(R) at The Home Mortgage Crisis: Are
Regulatory Solutions Working? forum learned about proposals that Congress
and the administration are considering that could potentially revamp the
entire financial regulatory system.
“The right way to tackle the mortgage crisis is to have pinpoint,
targeted efforts that address each variable in the housing crisis without
asking the taxpayer to bailout lenders or to cover loans that are best
described as ‘moral hazards,’” said Montgomery.
Lockhart, whose agency, OFHEO, is the key regulator for the
government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, noted
that GSE reform legislation is critical to rebuilding confidence in the
housing and mortgage markets. “We must have strong GSEs and a regulator
with all the tools to keep them financially safe and sound,” said Lockhart.
“Fannie and Freddie have become the dominant source of mortgage funding in
these troubled times, making reform legislation even more important.”
“The subprime debacle underscores the dangers and challenges of modern
financial markets,” said Leach. “There is a case for re-examining the
regulatory framework, but the most important need is judgment. Common sense
restraints on the lure of leveraging must be developed.”
As key leaders in the financial arena, all agree that regulatory reform
is needed to boost the mortgage and housing marketplace.
NAR continues to lobby Congress and the administration to enact GSE
reforms that will permanently increase conforming loan limits and enhance
regulatory oversight, focusing on safety and soundness. These reforms will
help stabilize the housing market by reducing foreclosures and making home
buying more attainable for those living in high-cost areas. Realtors(R) are
also advocating for FHA modernization to help stabilize the market.
The National Association of Realtors(R), “The Voice for Real Estate,”
is America’s largest trade association, representing 1.2 million members
involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate
industries.
Information about NAR is available at http://www.realtor.org. This and other
news releases are posted on the Web site’s “News media” section in the NAR
Media Center.
REALTOR(R) is a registered collective membership mark which may be used
only by real estate professionals who are members of the NATIONAL
ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS(R) and subscribe to its strict Code of Ethics. Not
all real estate agents are REALTORS(R). All REALTORS(R) are members of NAR.
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Source: Real Estate Newswire