“CHLA commends FHFA Director [Sandra] Thompson for her action to scrap the use of DTI in the pricing grid for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,” echoed Scott Olson, CHLA’s executive director. “The [government-sponsored enterprise] pricing grid is a complex balancing of the objectives of access to mortgage credit for underserved borrowers and safety and soundness — and CHLA believes today’s action to end the use

“The GSE pricing grid is a complex balancing of the objectives of access to mortgage credit for underserved borrowers and safety and soundness, and [the Community Home Lenders of America] believes today’s action to end the use of DTI LLPAs will enhance those dual objectives,” said Scott Olson, its executive director.”

Scott Olson, executive director of the Community Home Lenders of America, said, “Obviously extending the debt limit is very important, but so far at least, financial markets seem to be calm about this issue.” He said the mortgage industry should keep its “focus on the problems caused by the Federal Reserve pushing up interest rates too fast and too much.”

“The inability to reduce loan originator compensation to offset HFA production costs under the current LO Comp rule harms consumers by discouraging lender participation in these vital programs,” the CHLA states in the letter. “Moreover, because HFA loans are generally more costly to underwrite and therefore less profitable, providing LO comp flexibility for such loans does not create financial incentives to steer borrowers to higher-priced

Inside Mortgage Finance writes about CHLA’s letter to House and Senate appropriators, asking for full funding, pay scale comparability, and contracting flexibility for both FHA and Ginnie Mae

The scaling back of procedural hurdles could revitalize the Federal Housing Administration’s 203(k) program, according to trade groups like the National Association of Realtors and Community Home Lenders of America. Improving access to and the number of authorized consultants who have experience with contract work and are a requirement for the FHA’s traditional rehabilitation and purchase loans would go far to improve things.