Tag archives for Financial Services Committee

Ohio Representative Calls for Temporary Foreclosure Moratorium

Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) has submitted a resolution to the House Financial Services Committee calling for a temporary foreclosure moratorium due to the “precarious and unstable state” of the housing market. She cited the high volume of underwater homes in the country as reason for the moratorium, saying that “many economists today believe that to avoid relapsing into another devastating financial Read full article »

HAMP, Other Federal Anti-Foreclosure Programs in the Crosshairs in New Republican Budget

Given that special inspector general Neil Barofsky is currently busy blaming HAMP in large part for his decision to step down from his post, you might not think that anyone would really miss the struggling federal loan modification program if House Republicans get their way and axe it as part of their new budget. At least, that is what Ohio’s Read full article »

Congressional Budget Office Declares Fannie, Freddie “Government Entities”

Despite the fact that taxpayers have already contributed more than $145 billion to bailing out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Secretary of Treasury Timothy Geithner refuses to follow the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) recommendation that these two entities be considered part of the federal government. At this point in time, taxpayers own about 80 percent of the GSEs, and the Read full article »

House Committee Approves FHA Reform, Overlooks Changes to Minimum Down Payment

On Tuesday, April 27, 2010, the House Financial Services Committee approved legislation that the lawmakers say will keep the FHA viable and enable it to continue insuring mortgage loans. The FHA’s continued viability came into question after rising defaults caused the federal agency’s reserves to fall below 2 percent, the minimum amount required by law. However, the new legislation will enable Read full article »

The Politics of Real Estate

Few industries are as profoundly impacted by the political machinations in Washington as the real estate industry. Whether it's old legislation like Jimmy Carter's Community Reinvestment Act or Barack Obama's massive mortgage bailouts, the U.S. political machine has a huge impact (usually bad) on the business of real estate.

Ideally, we could ignore politics. But here at the Bryan Ellis Real Estate Letter, we insist on seeing the world with clarity - including the reality of Washington's aggressive involvement in every facet of our business, from mortgage lending to real estate sales license; from loan modification regulations to appraisal requirements... every piece of our business is profoundly impacted by politics. So rather than stick our heads in the sand and ignore reality, readers of the Bryan Ellis Real Estate Letter choose to be informed and prepared.

About Bryan Ellis

Bryan Ellis is an Atlanta-based real estate analyst and publisher of the widely read newsletter "The Bryan Ellis Real Estate Letter". With over 200,000 subscribers - including real estate investors, agents, brokers, appraisers and other real estate professionals - the Bryan Ellis Real Estate Letter is among America's largest sources of unbiased coverage of politics and public policy for the real estate industry.

Bryan Ellis serves as editor in chief for the Bryan Ellis Real Estate Letter and is assisted by an extraordinary staff of writers, researchers and editors who are each real estate experts in their own right and who assure that the news we report is well researched, factual, and highly relevant to today's real estate industry.

Bryan is very happily married and has two wonderful daughters. He makes his home in the suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia. You can contact the team at the Bryan Ellis Real Estate Letter here.