Here’s a better solution for tax reform This Op-Ed appeared in Housing Wire on November 22, 2017. by Scott Olson The Community Home Lenders Association is very supportive of the goals of the pending House and Senate tax bills of providing tax relief for individuals and corporations and simplifying and reforming the tax code. And if this means reforming existing homeownership tax provisions in order to help finance these tax cuts,

This Op-Ed appeared in BankThink on October 11 2017. By Scott Olson Policymakers in Washington often have the objective to level the regulatory playing field. But federal oversight of mortgage bankers has been anything but equitable. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was given authority to examine both bank and nonbank mortgage lenders, the idea being that nonbanks should not escape federal supervision because they were not FDIC-insured. But the fact

Published in American Banker on June 27th, 2017. by CHLA president, Bill Giambrone As the Senate Banking Committee seeks to revive talks over reforming the government-sponsored enterprises, a central question is the extent to which it will take into account small, independent mortgage bankers. Will they creating an equal housing finance playing field, or instead create a system that favors “too big to fail” banks, thereby crushing smaller lenders? By all accounts,

Published by Scotsman Guide on August 1, 2017   By William Giambrone Recently, I had the privilege of testifying before the U.S. Senate banking committee on behalf of the Community Home Lenders Association (CHLA) on reform of the government-sponsored enterprises, or GSEs. The hearing brought together associations representing different types of small lenders. CHLA is the only national association exclusively representing independent mortgage bankers (IMBs). I presented CHLA’s

The debate behind recapitilizing the GSEs by  Bill Giambrone, CHLA President This Op-Ed appeared in HousingWire on  July 5, 2017.  It is time to put to rest the straw man argument that groups in Washington that want to recapitalize the government sponsored enterprises or build a capital buffer want to “recap and release” the GSEs without reforms. Unfortunately this argument is the approach taken in, “Here’s

As capital dwindles, trouble looms for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac This Op-Ed appeared in The Hill on June 7, 2017. BY GLEN CORSO, SCOTT OLSON AND HILARY SHELTON, OPINION CONTRIBUTORS  Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Mel Watt recently delivered two direct messages to Congress: First, it is dangerous to operate the two institutions that undergird half of the U.S. mortgage market and support