Monday Morning Cup of Coffee takes a look at news coming across HousingWire’s weekend desk, with more coverage to come on larger issues.
Last week, House Republicans narrowly passed their healthcare bill that would repeal and replace Obamacare.
As it turns out, this new healthcare bill would have an even greater impact on business owners than President Donald Trump’s planned corporate tax cut, according to an article by Julia Horowitz for CNN Money.
From the article:
"It is a huge tax cut for guys like me," [Billionaire Warren] Buffett said Saturday at the annual shareholder meeting of Berkshire Hathaway.
Buffett, speaking to a crowd of tens of thousands in Omaha, said the cost of health care hurts businesses way more than corporate taxes. And it's hurting the economy.
He explained that healthcare costs are what’s holding back economic competitiveness as this year’s gross domestic product came in at its slowest pace since 2014.
The bill cuts most of Obamacare’s taxes that are used to fund it, including two taxes on Americans with high incomes, according to an article by Brianna Ehley for Politico.
However, the bill has yet to make it past the Senate, and its chances are looking slim as the Senate makes plans to start from scratch with its own healthcare bill.
Meanwhile in the mayor’s office in the capital, affordable housing offices have more money than they can handle.
But their surplus of money is not due to the lack of need, but rather, the office’s inability to organize the funds.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser recently called upon taxpayers to make an unprecedented investment of $100 million per year for the Housing Production Trust Fund, according to an article by Debbie Cenziper, Sarah Bowman, Lillianna Byington and Robin Eberhardt for The Washington Post.
However, the D.C. Department of Housing and Community Development was forced to give up $15.8 million in the past three years after missing its spending deadlines, according to the article.
From the article:
The funding came from the HOME Investment Partnerships Program, which for 25 years has provided seed money to developers willing to build or renovate low-income housing. HUD, which oversees the program, estimates that $1 in HOME funds can leverage $4.28 from other funding sources.
The District’s housing department was forced to return millions in HOME dollars even as the homeless population soared, more and more families moved into shelters, and the waiting list for rent vouchers remained closed to new households. Nearly 40,000 families are waiting for vouchers — those near the top of the list signed up well over a decade ago.
Click here to read more on why the department failed to meet its deadlines.
On the plus side, perhaps this program will withstand Trump’s proposed $6.2 billion budget cut. After all, HUD Secretary Ben Carson knows he will get the money back after the deadlines pass. *Insert sigh.
And speaking of companies that are missing the mark, Wells Fargo continues to rack up lawsuit costs.
A new report from Seeking Alpha showed the company’s recent fake accounts scandal is driving up its litigation bill by $200 million more than what the company previously estimated.
The bank stated in its quarterly filing that it is reasonably possible losses from legal actions could exceed its existing provisions by $2 billion, according to the report. This is up from the $1.8 billion Wells Fargo disclosed last quarter.
Mortgage Giant Fannie Mae continues to make waves in the housing market as more companies get on board with its Day 1 Certainty program.
This past week DataVerify, a provider of risk mitigation and verification services, CBCInnovis, a provider of mortgage credit and data validation services and Factual Data, a provider of mortgage credit and verification services, announced the availability of 4506-T tax transcript verification services from Desktop Underwriter validation service, Day 1 Certainty.
Day 1 Certainty from Fannie Mae, announced in October 2016, provides Fannie Mae customers with freedom from representations and warranties on key aspects of the mortgage origination process. Lenders using Desktop Underwriter from Fannie Mae, now have access to DataVerify’s 4506-T IRS Tax Transcript Verification services through DataVerify Validation Services.
To read more about Day 1 Certainty, what it offers lenders and what lead to its creation, click here.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation was named receiver for Guaranty Bank, Glendale, Wisconsin, a federal savings association.
Guaranty Bank had branch offices in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Michigan and Georgia, and conducted its business in Michigan and Georgia under the name BestBank. As of December 31, 2016, the institution had approximately $1 billion in total assets.
That's it for this weekend. Keep reading this week as we bring you the latest news in housing. Have a great week!
