Trade Groups Huddle With OMB on RESPA

Several housing trade groups met with White House budget officials on Nov. 24, MortgageWire has learned, to discuss their opposition to a Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act rule.Each group presented its concerns about a rule developed by the Department of Housing and Urban Development that is supposed to simplify the mortgage process and reduce the cost of settlement services. But together they emphasized that the issuance of a final rule could be disruptive and that a re-proposal for another round of comments would be the best course of action at this time. The National Association of Realtors, the Mortgage Bankers Association, the National Association of Mortgage Brokers, the Real Estate Settlement Providers Council, and the American Land Title Association met with the Office of Management and Budget officials. The OMB approves all regulations before they can be issued, and recent news that HUD Secretary Mel Martinez may run for the U.S. Senate from Florida has prompted rumors that the RESPA rule will be issued. "No one in the industry wants this rule," one trade group executive said. "With Secretary Martinez running for the Senate, it should be dead."