For 60 years, private mortgage insurance (MI) has helped more than 25 million families become successful homeowners. To commemorate this milestone, the Urban Institute examined the industry’s history and the positive role MI has served for homebuyers and the mortgage finance system overall.
Private mortgage insurance is a 60-year old bedrock of the housing system that for decades has helped low down payment borrowers qualify for mortgage financing—more than 25 million borrowers to date—and has provided critical credit risk protection to the government and taxpayers through numerous housing cycles.
USMI released a paper assessing housing finance reform proposals announced by housing institutions and organizations, the Senate Banking Committee held a hearing on housing finance reform, Genworth Financial introduced its first-ever First-Time Homebuyer Market Report, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) submitted its 2016 annual report to Congress, and American Action Forum (AAF) commented on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s (the GSEs) increasingly risky credit portfolios while calling for greater usage of private mortgage insurance (MI).
Nearly a decade after the financial crisis, the housing finance system remains largely structurally unreformed.
The Trump administration released its 2018 federal budget proposal for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Mel Watt and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin testified before the U.S. Senate on potential GSE reform, USMI and numerous other housing industry groups voiced their support for the nomination of Pam Patenaude to serve as Deputy Secretary of HUD, and several third party groups released white papers on access to affordable mortgage credit and housing finance reform.
