Article: Stronger Boundaries Needed For FHA/GSEs, USMI Says

December 8, 2023


An Inside Mortgage Finance article from December 7 titled, “USMI Leader Calls for Coordination on Housing Policy,” focused on USMI President Seth Appleton’s testimony at a House Financial Services Committee, Housing and Insurance Subcommittee hearing on housing affordability. The article noted Appleton’s testimony that Congress should promote a “‘clear, consistent and coordinated’ approach around how policymakers make any changes to mortgage insurance pricing from FHA [the Federal Housing Administration] or the government-sponsored enterprises [GSEs].”

The article continued, “[s]ince 2018, private mortgage insurance has been the most often used tool to help low-downpayment homebuyers, he said this week at a hearing before the House Financial Services Subcommittee,” and included additional quotes from Appleton on how FHA is an important complement to private mortgage insurers (MI).

The article also mentioned USMI’s past work on supporting a recent Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) rule on prior approval of new GSE products. Appleton said the new rule should “result in proper oversight of GSE pilots, a more transparent and objective process for approving new GSE products and activities, and a more robust housing-finance system through its consideration of the impacts new GSE products may have on GSE and non-GSE market participants.”

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