Homebuyer Assistance Act of 2021
Floor Speech
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. I thank our colleague from Texas (Mr. Taylor) for working with me on this bill, the Homebuyer Assistance Act of 2021. I thank the gentleman from Arkansas and the gentleman from Missouri for doing an excellent job of explaining the importance of this bill to the House, so I will be brief.
There is no more important day in the economic life of a family than when they buy a home, particularly, their first home, and appraisers play an important role in that very important day. So this bill looks to bring into synchrony the rules of the FHA dealing with appraisers, the FHA being the third-largest Federal home loan finance agency, bring those standards into conformity or rough conformity with the two larger Federal home loan finance agencies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
This will help deal with the shortage of appraisers that we are seeing in various parts of the country. Appraisers are an important part of the home-buying process for both lenders and borrowers to provide assurance that the amount of the mortgage is supported by the estimate property value.
Since 2010, all the State-licensed home appraisers have been required to meet minimum Federal education experience and examination requirements set by the Appraiser Qualifications Board.
So the standards set by the Appraiser Qualifications Board are fully sufficient for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and they should be for the FHA as well. Unfortunately, until this bill passes, appraisers for FHA mortgages must meet the higher standard. This creates a shortage of appraisers who can do FHA appraisals.
By helping address the shortage of appraisers that plague many areas, this legislation will provide much-needed assistance for first-time, low-and-moderate income and minority homebuyers who rely on FHA mortgages or rely on mortgages that may become FHA mortgages during the process.
Over 83 percent of the FHA home mortgages made in 2018 were to first- time homebuyers and over one-third of all FHA loans were obtained by minority households. I am pleased to say that with the support of this House, we passed the Homebuyer Assistance Act in 2019 with overwhelming bipartisan support, 419-5.
Today, I hope the House renews that wisdom, and I hope to see a similar level of wisdom in the Senate.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source