SUBCOMMITTEE ON HOUSING AND COMMUNITY OPPORTUNITY ROBERT W. NEY, Ohio, Chairman MARK GREEN, Wisconsin, Vice Chairman WALTER B. JONES, Jr., North Carolina PATRICK J. TOOMEY, Pennsylvania MAXINE WATERS, California MICHAEL E. CAPUANO, Massachusetts STEPHEN F. LYNCH, Massachusetts ARTUR DAVIS, Alabama (III) Birnbaum, Peter J., President, Attorneys' Title Guaranty Fund, Champaign, IL, on behalf of National Association of Bar Related Title Insurers Canfield, Anne C., Executive Director, Consumer Mortgage Coalition, Wash- Courson, John A., Chairman, Mortgage Bankers Association of America, Fendly, Neill, Chair, Government Affairs Committee, National Association of Mortgage Brokers, Washington, D.C. Friedlander, Stanley B., President, American Land Title Association, Wash- 12 Mendoza, Charles J., Member, Board of Directors, American Association of 41 Rheingold, Ira, Executive Director, National Association of Consumer Advo- 45 Rovick, Arne, Vice-Chair & General Counsel, Edina Realty Home Services, Edina, MN, on behalf of the Real Estate Services Providers Council, Inc., Saunders, Margot, Managing Attorney, National Consumer Law Center, Taylor, D. Russell, Chairman, America's Community Bankers, Washington, Friedlander, Stanley B.: American Bankers Association, prepared statement Response to an inquiry from Hon. Mark Green Appraisal Institute and American Society of Appraisers, prepared statement Consumer Bankers Association, prepared statement Independent Community Bankers of America, prepared statement National Association of Realtors, prepared statement "Take Home Pay" The Wall Street Journal February 24, 2003 Page 452 458 476 485 506 512 519 SIMPLIFYING THE HOME BUYING PROCESS: HUD'S PROPOSAL TO REFORM RESPA Tuesday, February 25, 2003 U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON FINANCIAL SERVICES, Washington, D.C. The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 2:07 p.m., in Room 2128, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Bob Ney [chairman of the subcommittee] presiding. Present: Representatives Ney, Green, Bereuter, Baker, Shays, Hart, Tiberi, Harris, Waters, Lee, Watt, Miller of North Carolina, and Davis. Also present was Mr. Manzullo. Chairman NEY. [Presiding.] Good afternoon. The subcommittee on Housing Community Opportunity will come to order. And without objection, all members opening statements will be made part of the record. Hearing no objection they are part of the record. I would remind subcommittee chairs and ranking minority members are recognized for five minutes each. All other members are recognized for three minutes each. And we will alternate, of course, between the majority and minority. I would also want to note due to the length of the time we are going to have to spend and the amount of witnesses, we will try to keep fairly strict on the opening statements to the time so that we can have the opportunity to hear from the witnesses. This is the first housing subcommittee hearing since I was selected as Chairman. It is my hope that the hearings we conduct in the 108th Congress will be informative and of an invaluable assistance to the members as we contemplate legislation that provides housing opportunities for all Americans. I intend for all the hearings to be fair and balanced, and I pledge to work with Ms. Waters, the ranking member, and all the members to see that this is a very productive subcommittee. And I would note, Ms. Waters and I had a conversation just this past week on communicating with each other throughout this process. Today's hearing is about the Department of Housing Urban Development's July 28, 2002 proposed rule that attempts to reform the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, as we all know as RESPA, which will be the first major reform attempt since 1974. On October 5, 2002, the Financial Services Committee heard testimony from Secretary Martinez. Chairman Oxley and the members have expressed a desire to hear other perspectives on this proposal before it became final. This hearing is a continuation of that proc (1) |