The U. S. Senate Banking Committee leaders have made a housing finance overhaul bill one the committee’s top priorities, and ranking member Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID) says he and Chairman Tim Johnson (D-SD) hope to produce their long-awaited housing bill by the end of March, according to POLITICO Pro. Sen. Crapo would not reveal what the sticking points are, but says the final package will need to be reviewed by other committee members. The bill is set to include the future of government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the taxpayer-backed mortgage finance giants, as MHProNews.com has been informed. Although Sen. Johnson refused to speculate on a specific timetable, Danny Ghorbani, of the Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform MHARR, had said the reform bill would be issued in two weeks. MHI and industry lenders have been engaged in hearings on this issue. For more information and analysis, please click here. ##
