I personally do not think that the housing picture will be changed much with the Democrats taking control of the House and Senate in January. The actions that would hurt or help the housing market such as changing the mortgage interest deduction are not going to be touched, and it looks like the Democrats will not even look at the capital gains tax.

However, expect to see more programs and benefits for low income housing and more oversight of the programs currently in place. Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae will probably have greater scrutiny, but even then it will be very little as those in charge when the fraud occurred were Clinton appointees. So the Hillary Clinton camp is not going to want that dirty laundry aired before the Presidential election.

When it comes to housing and mortgage issues, two of the most important members of the next Congress will be Democrats: Rep. Barney Frank of Mass., who probably will be chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, and Sen. Chris Dodd of Conn., in line to be chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.

Observers expect Frank to take a more active approach than Dodd on housing-related issues.

Kurt Pfotenhauer, senior vice president for government affairs and public policy for the Mortgage Bankers Association, says: “Frank is a real housing advocate who’s got a fairly well-articulated vision of where he wants to go and is very eager to pass legislation while he has that gavel in his hand.”

Pfotenhauer speculates that among Frank’s priorities will be enacting stricter oversight over mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, reforming the Federal Housing Administration Mortgage Insurance Program and combating predatory lending.

Both companies have been involved in accounting scandals, and some members of Congress worry that they have grown too big to fail, and that they should focus on putting more money into the hands of low- to moderate-income borrowers. via the  Orlando Sentinel

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