Mark-up Slated for Bill on Risk Pricing, DPA

The House Financial Services Committee is slated to mark up a bill Sept. 16 that would give the Federal Housing Administration some latitude to price mortgage insurance premiums based on risk and allow nonprofit housing groups to continue to arrange downpayment assistance on FHA loans. The bill (H.R. 6694) would reverse provisions in a major housing bill Congress passed this summer that bans seller-funded downpayment assistance on FHA loans starting Oct 1 and bars the FHA from using risk-based pricing for 12 months. The Department of Housing and Urban Development says it has "deep reservations" about the bill even though the FHA has been seeking congressional authorization for risk-based pricing for several years. On Tuesday morning, a HUD official is scheduled to testify before a House Financial Services subcommittee on its Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act reform proposal, which many in Congress and the housing industry want HUD to withdraw. HUD Secretary Steve Preston continues to insist, however, that the department will issue a final RESPA rule that will provide homebuyers with a "clear and understandable" disclosure of their mortgage terms and costs.