Mortgage Bankers Association

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) is the United States national association representing all facets of the real estate finance industry. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., MBA represents over 2,200 member companies.[1] MBA’s membership base includes all sectors of the real estate finance industry including originators, servicers, underwriters, compliance personnel and information technology professionals representing mortgage companies in the residential, commercial and multi-family arenas.

During the subprime mortgage crisis of 2008, the MBA's membership fell from 3,000 to 2,500. Its current membership is 2,200.[1][2]

MBA is headed by Robert Broeksmit, president and chief executive officer. Rodrigo Lopez, executive chairman of NorthMarq Capital, is MBA's chairman for 2017.[3]

Lobbying

The Mortgage Bankers Association has a political action committee called Mortgage Bankers Association Political Action Committee (MORPAC).[4] MORPAC raises money to help elect and re-elect candidates to Congress who have an understanding of the real estate finance and housing industries, and who are supportive of the mortgage profession. The lobbying group is headed by Bill Killmer, Senior Vice President of Legislative and Political Affairs.

Education

The MBA offers training and continuing education to mortgage professionals. It is also active in educating consumers.

CampusMBA

CampusMBA is the MBA's education division. CampusMBA offers programs in various formats, including distance learning, live online workshops, classroom-based courses, corporate training and several books and other resources.

CampusMBA offers industry certifications and designations, including the following:

  • Certified Mortgage Banker (CMB)
  • Accredited Mortgage Professional (AMP)
  • Certified Loan Officer (CLO)
  • Certified Mortgage Servicer (CMS)
  • Certified Residential Underwriter (CRU)

School of Mortgage Banking

Since 1948, the MBA has been offering courses through The School of Mortgage Banking (SOMB) to the real estate finance community. SOMB is a series of three four-day courses, now administered by CampusMBA, the educational division of MBA created in 2000. The courses offer comprehensive instruction in specific aspects of the mortgage banking industry. Graduates of SOMB receive the Accredited Mortgage Professional (AMP) designation upon successful completion of the courses.

Home Loan Learning Center

The Home Loan Learning Center is a consumer education website providing financial literacy information on credit reports and scores, the true cost of owning a home and how to compare the costs of owning versus renting a home. The site includes information on how to qualify for a loan, what the documents mean, what's included in the mortgage payment. It also has mortgage calculators to help consumers plan their payments.

MISMO

The Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization (MISMO), a nonprofit subsidiary of the MBA, is the leading technology standards development body for residential and commercial industry. MISMO promotes data consistency throughout the broader industry, reduces processing costs, increases transparency, and boosts investor confidence in mortgages as an asset class, while passing cost savings on to the consumer.[5]

Default on headquarters loan

In October 2009, the MBA sold its headquarters in Washington, D.C., for $41.3 million to CoStar Group. It had originally purchased the building in 2007 for $79 million, $75 million of which was financed from a group of banks headed by PNC Financial Services. It now rents offices nearby.[2][6][7][8]

The association was criticized for defaulting on its mortgage despite saying that there's a moral obligation for homeowners to repay their mortgages.[9]

The default was featured on The Daily Show on October 7, 2010, contrasting the MBA's actions with statements made by its representatives claiming that strategic default is morally wrong. MBA operatives refused to make a comment.[10]

Footnotes
  1. About Mortgage Banker's Association
  2. The Washington Post, February 6, 2010, Mortgage bankers group sells D.C. offices to Bethesda company; CoStar gets a bargain after commercial real estate market collapses, V. Dion Haynes, "The Mortgage Bankers Association moved into the building in 2008 just as the real estate market was crashing, and ended up paying millions of dollars more when interest rates rose. Moreover, the leasing market slowed considerably and the association had trouble getting other tenants into the 168,000-square-foot building...The industry lobbying group has struggled financially in recent years, as the market collapsed and lending dried up, with members dropping out as they lost their jobs..Florance said the association will remain in the building for about six months and then find a new home...."It's a little bit of irony that in the middle of the mortgage crisis brought on by the bad lending practices of many members of the Mortgage Bankers Association that they got caught up in the same problem," said Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, a liberal research group.
  3. "Officers". Retrieved 2017-04-28.
  4. "Mortgage Bankers Association Political Action Committee". Retrieved 2008-10-21.
  5. "MERSCorp to Manage MISMO Operation". Retrieved 2009-04-30.
  6. Hagerty, James R. (2010-02-06). "Mortgage Bankers Association Sells Headquarters at Big Loss". The Wall Street Journal.
  7. Adam Rust, Mortgage Bankers Association Succumbs to a Short Sale, Bank Talk, (February 8, 2010).
  8. Baltimore Business Journal, February 8, 2010, CoStar leaving Md., makes D.C. move official, Sarah Krouse and Jonathan O'Connell, "CoStar Group Inc. purchased the Mortgage Bankers Association headquarters at 1331 L St. NW on [February 5, 2010]...CoStar is paying $41.25 million for the 168,000-square-foot Class A building, a bargain compared to the $76 million that the mortgage bankers group paid for it less than two years ago...The CoStar purchase will likely also provide welcome respite to the Mortgage Bankers Association, which laid off workers in 2009, saw membership decline and has become tangled in a suit with Tishman Speyer about an unpaid lease termination fee at 1919 Pennsylvania Ave. NW."
  9. Guardian Unlimited, February 9, 2010 , US Mortgage Bankers Association sells HQ at $38m loss, Andrew Clark,
  10. Mortgage Bankers Association Strategic Default, The Daily Show, October 7, 2010.
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