Thanks to CAMB Efforts, Loan Limit Increase Letter Receives Almost Unanimous Support by California Delegation

In a special CAMB announcement on July 16, 2008, CAMB President Fred Arnold, CMC, announced another historic accomplishment by the CAMB legislative team in representing the interests of the mortgage broker community of California.

The FHA and GSE loan limit increases included in the Economic Stimulus Package of 2008 expire at the end of the year. With California exhibiting high cost homes in most of the state, it falls on our congressional delegation to maintain those limits. Currently, the House of Representatives and the Senate have passed differing versions of a housing reform package (H.R. 3221). The House version maintains loan limits in high cost areas of the country at the temporary $729,750 level, while the Senate version reduces maximum conforming and FHA loan limits to $625,000. In addition, the House bill maintains the area loan limit formula at 125 percent of an area’s median home price while the Senate bill reduces the area cap to the equivalent of an area’s median home price. In some areas of California, the Senate language could result in a more than $100,000 decrease in the current FHA and GSE loan limits. Accordingly, CAMB has endorsed the House version of the bill.

The CAMB Government Affairs team, led by Ed Smith, Jr. and with the help of our federal lobbyist Lesli Gooch, Ph.D., have been working with the California congressional delegation to make the temporary loan limit increase permanent. With CAMB’s input, Congresswoman Ellen Tauscher (D-Walnut Creek) and Congressman Gary Miller (R-Brea), two champions of the lending industry and California homeowners, created a letter to those leading the housing reform effort, which highlighted the importance of the House language to California. Reps. Tauscher and Miller circulated the letter for the California delegation to sign.

Due to the quick action of the CAMB Government Affairs team to reach out to the California congressional delegation, within days the Tauscher-Miller letter gained the signatures of both of California’s U.S. Senators, Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, and signatures from 50 of the 52 members of the House who represent our state. The lone holdouts were Ed Royce (R-Fullerton) and Wally Herger (R-Redding).

The House and Senate are expected to achieve final compromise on the housing stimulus package sometime next week and the CAMB Government Affairs team will continue to press to make the temporary loan limit levels permanent.

Fred Arnold had this to say about the letter signing campaign: “CAMB volunteers have historically been successful in presenting our case to members of Congress. But this success in creating unanimity of our congressional delegation demonstrates the power of what we can do when we work together. In this time of limited resources and an unfavorable legislative climate, we have once again proven our resiliency and resolve to do what is best for the California Mortgage Broker and the homeowners of our State. I invite all loan agents and affiliates throughout the State to join in our efforts as we fight to survive.”

If you want more information about this issue or about CAMB’s government affairs efforts, you can contact the CAMB Government Affairs team at (916) 448-8236 or at governmentaffairs@cambweb.org.