California is considering getting into the construction insurance business to help factory-built housing scale up and cut costs. The move is an effort to put a dent in the state's housing shortage. Lawmakers led by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks rolled out a package of bills that trims rules and standardizes approvals. One bill stands out. It has the state backstop surety bonds for housing factories by covering part of payouts in extreme failures. Supporters say factories get stuck in a doom loop. Developers demand bonds. Insurers demand a track record. Factories cannot get work to build one. Critics say direct funding could help more, and taxpayers could face unknown risk.
A federal lawsuit filed by U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell accuses the Trump administration's top housing regulator of abusing his position to misuse private mortgage records belonging to Swalwell and other Democratic critics of the Republican president. Swalwell sued Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte on Tuesday — less than two weeks after Pulte formally referred the California Democrat to the Justice Department for possible criminal prosecution on mortgage fraud charges. Swalwell is seeking a court order for Pulte and his agency to withdraw the criminal referral. Pulte didn't immediately respond to a text message and telephone call seeking comment on the lawsuit.
If Donald Trump wins the presidential election, Republicans hope he will fulfill a longstanding GOP goal of privatizing the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The two companies have been under government control since the Great Recession in 2008. Republicans believe the conservatorship has stymied competition in the housing finance market while putting taxpayers at risk should another bailout be necessary. But Democrats and some economists warn that ending the conservatorship would cause mortgage prices to jump since Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would need to raise fees to make up for the increased risks they'd face without government support.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates resumed their ascent this week, as the key 30-year loan reached its highest point since 2009.
