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In the News: Sen. Kennedy Seeks Momentum for MSRB Reform Bill

Marcus Stanley, policy director at Americans for Financial Reform, said that there is a widespread feeling that the MSRB is dominated by insiders to a degree that is “greater than is healthy for a self regulatory organization. Reforms are called for and I’m glad that Sen. Kennedy is stepping forward to do that.”

He said he sees bipartisan interest in the bill because people have interest in federal regulation in the municipal markets.

“We’ve seen blowups in the muni markets that have really affected cities and public entities across the country,” Stanley said, referencing Detroit and Puerto Rico.

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News Release: AFR Statement on Financial Services Committee Markup on Credit Reporting

“Credit reports and credit scores play a critical role in the economic lives of Americans. They are the gatekeeper for affordable credit, insurance, rental housing, and sometimes unfortunately even a job. Yet they suffer from unacceptable rates of inaccuracy. This package would enact a sea change that would make the American credit reporting system more accurate and fairer to consumers.”

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Letter to Congress: Letter to House Financial Services Committee on Credit Reporting Package

Credit reports and credit scores play a critical role in the economic lives of Americans. They are the gatekeeper for affordable credit, insurance, rental housing, and sometimes unfortunately even a job. Yet they suffer from unacceptable rates of inaccuracy. This package would enact a sea change that would make the American credit reporting system more accurate and fairer to consumers.

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Letter to Regulators: Coalition Letter on FHA Single-Family Loan Sale Program

FHA mortgages play a crucial role in providing and maintaining access to affordable and sustainable homeownership for low- and moderate-income families and communities of color. If the Loan Sale Program continues in its current unregulated form, FHA borrowers and their communities remain at risk of further harm from non-compliant servicers and private equity loan purchasers. It is crucial that HUD implement strong protections both before and after loans are sold to prevent needless borrower displacement and neighborhood instability.

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Joint Letter: Letter to HUD on FHA Loan Sales

AFR Ed Fund and six other organizations submitted these comments in response to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)’s advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) on the FHA Single Family Loan Sale program. View or download pdf of the letter here.

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Letter to Regulators: Comment to HUD on FHA Servicing Defect Taxonomy

Developing clear and appropriate standards for the servicing taxonomy will help ensure that servicers are properly held accountable for non-compliance with FHA’s requirements. It promises to improve the quality of FHA servicing, which in turn will benefit homeowners and the Mutual Mortgage Insurance (MMI) fund. HUD must ensure that its taxonomy tool encompasses these loss mitigation regulations and allows for borrower input into servicer performance in order to truly gauge whether loss mitigation is working for neighborhoods and for the MMI fund.