Scenes from NCSHA's 2012 HFA Institute MRBs and FMI Conference

Last week, Administration officials, financial and program experts, and HFA staff shared forecasts, program ideas, and solutions at NCSHA's HFA Institute MRBs and Federal Mortgage Insurance conference.

At the opening plenary, David Crowe, Senior Vice President and Chief Economist for the National Association of Home Builders; Carol Galante, Acting Assistant Secretary for Housing and FHA Commissioner for HUD; and Tammye Treviño, Administrator of the Rural Development Housing and Community Facilities Programs at USDA, discussed the latest news about the Administration's housing plans and the economy.

David Crowe told attendees that although the housing market and the larger economy are not improving dramatically, there are signs of recovery.

Tammye Treviño discussed recent changes to USDA Rural Development (RD) and asked HFAs how RD can be more helpful.

Carol Galante discussed forbearance extensions and FHA's improving loan quality since 2009, and outlined new lender enforcement efforts.

Kathleen Gibbons, Director of the Single-Family MBS Division at Ginnie Mae; Arlene Nunes, Director of the Home Mortgage Insurance Division at HUD's Office of Single-Family Development; and Joaquin Tremols, Acting Director of USDA's Single-Family Housing Guarantee Division, reviewed recent news from their agencies and how HFAs can use their programs.

Paul Mondor, Senior Counsel and Special Advisor in the Office of Regulations at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, covered the essentials of mortgage lending, including RESPA, TILA, and the implementation of the Dodd-Frank Act.

At the closing plenary, Connecticut Housing Finance Authority's Executive Vice President John Craford joined industry experts Frederic Ballard, Partner at Ballard Spahr LLP; Michael Baumrin, Managing Director of RBC Capital Markets; Ping Hsieh, Vice President and Senior Analyst at Moody's Investors Service; Michael Koessel, Director and Head of Housing Group at Citigroup Global Markets Inc.; and Peter Weiss, Executive Director of JP Morgan Securities, as they covered the state of the bond market, HFAs' financial health, and alternative financing tools for affordable housing.

Attendees took advantage of opportunities to network and share experiences throughout the conference.