As the Senate continued work last week on financial regulatory overhaul bill S. 3217, the Restoring American Financial Stability Act, NAHB helped to defeat two amendments that threatened to impair the flow of mortgage credit to the nation’s housing finance system.

The Senate voted 56 to 43 to reject a proposal offered by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) to end government control of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac within two years and then force the two housing government sponsored enterprises (GSEs) to reduce the size of their mortgage portfolios. Read More

By Maggie Marotta, Apogee Partners LLC

With 140 bank failures in 2009, and 2010 expected to see bank closings exceeding that total, home builders and developers face an increasing risk of their loans falling under the control of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). If you are faced with this situation, the dynamics of your relationship with your lender have changed primarily because the FDIC and possibly an acquiring bank are not seeking a long-term relationship. Navigating through this process will likely be challenging and time-consuming, but it may also provide you with a window of opportunity to restructure debt that may otherwise prevent you from continuing to develop your project.

What should builders and developers expect and do if their bank is taken over by the FDIC? First, find out who actually owns your loan. If the bank was a payout or if a bridge bank was formed, no acquirer is involved and your loan will stay with the FDIC as receiver for your bank until it is sold. If there was an acquiring bank, your loan was probably acquired, although that won’t always be the case. Entities acquiring banks often do not take 100% of the assets despite FDIC efforts to include as much of the loan portfolio as possible.... Read More

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) on April 22 announced that it is increasing its penalties to provide a greater deterrent against employer workplace safety violations.

"For many employers, investing in job safety happens only when they have adequate incentives to comply with OSHA's requirements," said David Michaels, OSHA’s assistant secretary of labor. “Higher penalties and more aggressive, targeted enforcement will provide a greater deterrent and further encourage these employers to furnish safe and healthy workplaces for their employees."... Read More