Mel Watt Likely to Be Confirmed Tuesday: MBA

The Mortgage Bankers Association believes Mel Watt will be confirmed as soon as Tuesday—and sworn in on Wednesday—as the new director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

The North Carolina congressman’s appointment to head the FHFA has been in limbo for months. But now that the Senate needs only a simple majority to clear presidential appointments, the MBA’s leadership is certain his approval is imminent.

At the group’s second annual Independent Mortgage Bankers conference in Miami, its president, David Stevens, predicted Watt’s approval will be “swift.”

And chairman-elect Bill Cosgrove said much the same, adding, “Mel Watt will definitely help (the MBA’s cause) in a lot of areas.”

At the very least, Watt is expected to slow the winding of the government-sponsored enterprises until the mortgage market has the time to adjust to the same 4,000 pages of new rules and regulations that will take effect next year, starting in mid-January with guidance concerning qualified mortgages.

Lew Sichelman is an independent journalist who has been covering the housing and mortgage markets for more than 40 years.