Dispute Could Slow Passage of FHA Reform

A partisan dispute over an affordable housing trust fund could slow passage of a Federal Housing Administration reform bill that many in Congress view as a way to help subprime borrowers get into safer and more affordable home loans.Rep. Judy Biggert, R-Ill., warned Democrats that she has "grave concerns" about the solvency of the FHA single-family program if excess FHA revenues are earmarked for a yet-to-be-created AH trust fund. "Removing the housing trust fund provision will allow us to work together on a bipartisan bill that can move expeditiously to the House floor," Rep. Biggert said. But Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., warned that the FHA reform bill will not get out of the House Financial Services Committee without the affordable housing fund provision. The FHA bill, co-sponsored by Rep. Waters and the committee chairman, Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., does not create an AH trust fund -- that requires separate legislation that Rep. Frank plans to introduce later this year. It simply allows the future affordable housing trust fund to tap the FHA as a funding source.