Middle Class Borrower Protection Act of 2023

Floor Speech

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Ms. PETTERSEN. Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Chair, we are in the middle of a housing crisis across the U.S. and in Colorado, especially in the Seventh District. The housing supply is lagging significantly behind the demand in our State which has led to skyrocketing prices pushing far too many people out of the communities that they have lived in their entire lives, as well as creating significant challenges to hire and retain workers for small businesses and public servants.

Some communities in the rural part of our district have seen property increase threefold in just a couple of years. While so many people are struggling to get their first home, there are far too many people who are buying up real estate for their third, fourth, and even fifth homes, which has also contributed to the challenges our communities are facing.

While I am very concerned about the rising costs of housing, this bill does not address the problem.

For a little bit of background, the Federal Housing Finance Agency serves as the chief regulator of the enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Essentially, the FHFA oversees the majority of all mortgages in the United States. Earlier this year, the Financial Services Committee heard from the director, Sandra Thompson, about how the agency is working to help Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac meet capital requirements and promote increased access to homeownership for creditworthy home buyers.

The underlying bill that we are considering today would reverse changes made by the Federal Housing Financing Agency to loan-level price adjustments which are fees charged to originate a loan. The fee matrix has not been updated since 2008 and is woefully out of date.

There was some controversy surrounding a debt-to-income ratio rule, but that rule has already been repealed. The remaining fee matrix will see fee increases only on wealthy individuals, people purchasing a second home, or individuals who are purchasing an investment property while reducing the cost for first-time buyers and low- to middle-income families.

If my colleagues on the other side of the aisle agree that fees should not be increased on those in the middle class who are already struggling to make ends meet, then they should support my amendment.

It would ensure that this legislation would not be implemented until the director certifies that it would not result in increased fees on middle-class home buyers.

If the bill does what they are saying it does, then my amendment would not create a barrier to implementation.

We must come together in a bipartisan way to address affordable housing. I look forward to getting back to work with the chairman and ranking member when we return in July.

Unfortunately, this legislation won't reduce costs for the middle class and would tie the hands of the FHFA to address changing needs, which is why this amendment is necessary.

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Ms. PETTERSEN. Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Waters), who is the ranking member of the Financial Services Committee.

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Ms. PETTERSEN. Mr. Chair, I am prepared to close, and I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Chair, I thank Ranking Member Waters for her remarks in support of the amendment.

Once again, ensuring that all Americans have access to affordable housing is a priority of mine and the Democrats on the Financial Services Committee.

We must ensure that middle-class home buyers have access to our housing market. Unfortunately, this legislation will not reduce costs for the middle-class and first-time home buyers.

Not only are we focusing on a narrow subset of fee increases that are supposed to target wealthy home buyers, individuals purchasing a second home, and people buying investment homes, they are tying the hands of the FHFA in moving forward in changing their fee structures on a more regular basis to address changing needs.

This will make Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac less available to support the housing market if there is a future fiscal crisis, and it only threatens our housing market.

Once again, Mr. Chair, if you want to make sure that fees are not increased for the middle class, then you should support my commonsense amendment.

Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

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Ms. PETTERSEN. Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.

A recorded vote was ordered.

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