Government

President Trump nominated Pam Patenaude to be Deputy Secretary of Housing and Urban Development on Friday. Patenaude, currently President of the J. Ronald Terwilliger Foundation for America’s Families, has a long history in the industry. Executives from all ends of the spectrum have praised her nomination.

With just hours to spare, Congress overwhelmingly approved a short-term spending bill which would prevent the weekend shutdown, avoiding potential clogs in the mortgage industry. A government shutdown would have slowed the mortgage process and even prevented some buyers from closing, as access to tax information and social security would have been halted during the shutdown. The housing market is stronger now than it was in 2013, and application volume is greater, meaning that that more buyers could have been affected.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis Q1 GDP growth estimate was below the Wall Street estimate for the quarter, but in the opinion of Brett F Ewing and S. Lance Mitchell, Chief Market Strategist and Research Director (respectively) for First Franklin Financial Services, it is an “inflection point” for the economy in the midst of a tight labor market. Experts said that the slower growth was an "inevitable reversal" following the high growth of Q4 2016.

Participants in the CFPB's Divesity and Inclusion Meeting meeting included representatives from the mortgage industry, including from larger and smaller banks, as well as some nonbank financial companies. In addition, staff from the OWMI of other federal agencies, including the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Federal Reserve, and Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) were included.

According to the Federal Housing Administration on Thursday, interest rates on conventional purchase-money mortgages decreased nationally from February to March. As interest rates dropped, prices have been on the rise, as shown in the FHFA’s last House Price Index for February, which released on Tuesday. House prices rose an average of 6.4 percent that month year-over -year, and up 0.6 percent month-over-month.

After the Financial Services Committee's hearing on the Financial CHOICE Act, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin expressed his approval of the act. The act was introduced during a hearing of the Committee by Commitee Chairman Jeb Hensarling on Wednesday as an alternative to the Dodd-Frank act. Financial CHOICE aims to end taxpayer-funded bailouts of big banks, impose tougher penalties for financial fraud and insider trading, and demand greater accountability from regulators.

Through its supervisory activities, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has determined that some mortgage servicers are failing to provide adequate legal protection to struggling borrowers and have therefore violated the law. According to the Bureau’s Supervisory Highlights report released on Wednesday, CFPB examiners also found that some servicers mishandled escrow accounts, kept borrowers in the dark about their potential foreclosure prevention options, prematurely entered the foreclosure process, and sent incomplete bills and statements.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin released the president's tax reform plan which could have a significant impact on the mortgage industry and the financial industry as a whole. Calling the tax cuts in President Trump’s reform “The biggest tax cut and largest tax reform in history of this country,” the reform would reduce corporate taxes down to 15 percent, cut the top tax bracket down to 35 percent, and double the standard deduction.

Ocwen has filed three motions against the CFPB in hopes of speeding up a Circuit Court of Appeals decision on the Bureau's constitutionality. The motions arrive on the back of a recent suit filed by the CFPB against Ocwen on April 21. The suit alleged Ocwen committed errors throughout the servicing process and improperly foreclosed on at least 1,000 homeowners.

Approaching President Trump's 100th day in office, we took a look at how his administration has impacted the financial sector. From lending rates to bank stock prices, see in what directions the needle has moved in reaction to policy changes made by the president. We’ll also take a look at what impact Trump’s executive orders affecting Dodd-Frank is having on the market as well as how the housing industry may be impacted by a recent tariff on Canadian lumber.