What Does NAMB Do?

THE LATEST INITIATIVES FROM NAMB’S COMMITTEES

Flood Insurance Subcommittee

NAMB’s Flood Insurance Subcommittee has been working toward obtaining affordable flood insurance for homeowners across the country. We are monitoring legislative actions by senators & representatives including Senators Kennedy, Cassidy & Hyde-Smith as well as Representatives Davidson, Castor & Luetkemeyer. Many of these bills include positions that may reduce the price for flood insurance.

Subcommittee members are working in conjunction with other associations & NAMB’s lobbyist, The Williams Group, to put together our own legislation which we believe will be passable by Congress. This legislation includes a 5-year means testing program to assist low-to-moderate income homeowners with a premium they can afford.

The disclosure & calculation of the full risk rate has been requested by Congress; obtaining a forward-facing tool would be best. The short-term solution to current high-priced flood insurance will be limited to 2 percent of the Area Median Income of the property’s county. Finally, this coverage would be considered continuous coverage for the purpose of pricing in the future.

The subcommittee is determined to find a solution to the high price of flood insurance so that the dream of homeownership is not out of reach. The bill that NAMB is working on and the legislation sponsored by other members of the House & Senate can make this goal obtainable. NAMB’s support of affordable flood insurance legislation will benefit the mortgage broker community & homeowners across the country – Ross Miller, Flood Insurance Committee Chair, ross.miller@namb.org

VA Committee

NAMB’s Veterans Committee functions in two roles; the first is education. The committee keeps abreast of changes in the VA home loan program in order to maintain & update the NAMB Certified Veteran Lending Specialist (CVLS) training certification for mortgage loan officers. This program is considered the premier program for MLOs and was co-written by the former VA Home Loan Guaranty Officer for the Phoenix Regional Loan Center. It’s not the run-of-the-mill certification you’ve seen from most of the industry; it’s a full 8-hour block of instruction covering every aspect of the VA home loan program. No other program benefits our industry MLOs as this one does.

The second role of the Veteran’s Committee is that of legislative stewardship. The team on this committee keeps their attention on what is best for the VA home loan program to assist veterans with home ownership. In past years we have helped rewrite the VA loan program

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