Homebuyer Assistance Act of 2021

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3008, the Homebuyer Assistance Act of 2021, sponsored by my friend from California (Mr. Sherman) and cosponsored by my colleague from Texas (Mr. Taylor), who are both superb active members of the Committee on Financial Services here in the House.

The committee reviewed many of the issues faced by the appraisal industry. There were two concerns heard loud and clear from the witnesses: the prolonged backlog for appraisals and the decreased quality in appraisals used in transactions involving loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration, the FHA.

H.R. 3008 addresses these concerns in two ways. First, the bill amends current law to expand the pool of appraisers eligible to participate in FHA-insured transactions from being just certified appraisers to include both certified and licensed appraisers.

Additionally, the bill addresses the different training requirements that each must meet. Currently, certified appraisers must have 1,500 hours of supervised experience without any property value or complexity restrictions. Licensed appraisers need only 1,000 hours of supervised experience, and there are some property value or complexity restrictions on licensed appraisers.

So H.R. 3008 sets minimum trending requirements for both types of appraisers in FHA transactions. Certified and licensed appraisers must have at least 7 hours of approved training by The Appraisal Foundation or their State licensing agency. These changes will help break that logjam and bring FHA's appraisal rules in line with the current appraisal rules used by our government-sponsored enterprises, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, in the secondary market and in the conventional mortgage market.

Moreover, the changes that Mr. Sherman and Mr. Taylor proposed will help alleviate the appraisal backlog at the FHA and increase the quality of work being performed. That would benefit both homeowners and taxpayers alike.

As a former community banker in Arkansas, I understand firsthand how the appraiser shortage has been a problem in my home State. For example, in Arkansas, there has been a consistent delay in home purchases in rural areas because of the increased burdens that this shortage has brought about. This has created a ripple effect that has had a negative impact on the economies or in those neighborhoods.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my friends, Mr. Sherman and Mr. Taylor. I urge all Members to support this bill; and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend, the gentleman from California (Mr. Sherman), for his hard work on this bill.

I hope that we are able to get it over the finish line and to the President's desk. I appreciate Senator Thune working on this in the Senate.

It is an important piece of legislation that will aid, as Mr. Sherman outlined, first-time home buyers. A majority of this benefit speeds up that process for the family who is trying to buy their

first home or a home that is low enough in mortgage size to be insured by the FHA. This is something we want to do to speed access to the American Dream for low- to moderate-income families.

I thank Mr. Sherman for his work, and I encourage all of my friends on both sides of the aisle to support H.R. 3008, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3008) to amend the National Housing Act to authorize State- licensed appraisers to conduct appraisals in connection with mortgages insured by the FHA and to require compliance with the existing appraiser education requirement, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on this legislation and insert extraneous materials thereon.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3008, the Homebuyer Assistance Act of 2021, which would make a commonsense update to the Federal Housing Administration's requirements governing appraisals to allow licensed appraisers to conduct home valuations for FHA-backed mortgages.

The current requirement to utilize a certified appraiser for all FHA loans is simply outdated as it was put into place at a time when there were no minimum Federal standards for State licensure of appraisers, leaving concerns about consistency in competency across States.

Now that we do have minimum standards for licensure, FHA's certification requirement is not only out of date and out of alignment with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, it is also creating marketwide pressures for lenders to require certified appraisers for all loans, even if they are not FHA loans, just in case the mortgage switches to an FHA loan midway through the process.

This, in turn, makes it harder for licensed appraisers to obtain work at a time when certain areas are experiencing appraiser shortages, and we are already struggling to effectively recruit new and diverse appraisers. Licensed appraisers who are perfectly qualified to conduct appraisals for GSE loans should be just as qualified to conduct appraisals for FHA loans.

I would like to thank Mr. Sherman for introducing this legislation; and the Republican cosponsor, Mr. Van Taylor, for supporting this all- important bill.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to vote ``yes,'' and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Sherman), who is a sponsor of this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I again want to thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Sherman) for bringing this legislation forward and for the support of the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Taylor).

This bill removes unnecessary barriers to the home-buying process, which will help millions of FHA borrowers over time.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this important legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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.

Madam Speaker, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall No. 145, ``nay'' on rollcall No. 146, ``nay'' on rollcall No. 147, and ``yea'' on rollcall No. 148.

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to section 5 of House Resolution 403, I move to suspend the rules and pass H.R. 144, H.R. 204, H.R. 210,