Access to Secondary Market Must Be Preserved as Policymakers Debate Reform
Washington, D.C. – June 6, 2012 – (RealEstateRama) — Proposed reforms to the U.S. housing-finance system must support the continued role of the nation’s community banks in financing homeownership, the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) told policymakers. Speaking at a housing forum sponsored by the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Housing Commission and the Jack Kemp Foundation, ICBA Senior Executive Vice President and Chief of Staff Terry Jorde said that the housing-finance system should support a diverse range of mortgage lenders with a robust secondary market that is available to all.
“The housing-finance system must preserve the important role of community banks,” Jorde said in her testimony. “Secondary market access is vitally important to community banks, and we must ensure the existence of a strong, reliable secondary market that is available to lenders in all geographic locations and of all sizes.”
Jorde said that reforms to the housing-finance system should not foster even greater mortgage-lending concentration in a handful of megabanks. She also noted how the Federal Home Loan Bank system is a model that has worked well since its inception and must be preserved as policymakers address the future of housing finance.
Among other recommendations, Jorde said that well-designed secondary market entities must not be allowed to use or sell proprietary consumer data, that originators continue to have the option servicing loans after their sale, and that the resources of secondary market entities should be focused solely on supporting housing.
To read the testimony and learn more about community banks and the future of housing finance, visit www.icba.org.
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