Hi, I’m Adam Sanctis with the Mortgage Minute, the latest news from the Mortgage Bankers Association. Last Tuesday evening, president Donald Trump delivered a nearly two hour State of the Union address highlighting his 2025 record on the economy, immigration, foreign policy, and tariffs housing affordability received only a brief mention focusing on lower mortgage rates and smaller average loan sizes. But the president reiterated his call for Congress to ban large institutional investors from purchasing single family homes that push builds on a January executive order, directing federal agencies to curb government backed financing, insurance, or securitization tied to investor owned single family homes, prohibits sales of federally owned properties to large investors, and urging Congress to codify a statutory ban. A recent White House proposal would borrow entities that own more than a hundred single family homes from acquiring additional properties with limited exceptions, though it would not require a divestment of homes already owned MBA’s. Key concerns are clear. Any legislation must avoid sweeping in traditional multi-family rental communities. Constraining capital that supports rental housing supply, limiting build to rent development, or restricting servicer’s ability to manage and dispose of real estate owned properties. All of which are critical to neighborhood stability and overall housing affordability. Looking ahead, Senate majority leader John Thune has begun procedural steps to advance a broader housing package that would combine the house passed housing for the 21st Century Act of 2025 with a Senate’s Road to Housing Act. The White House and Treasury are pressing to attach to the finalized investor ban language as floor debate unfolds. MBA remains actively engaged with the administration and lawmakers in both chambers and both parties to help shape the outcome of this legislation. That’s it for this week. Thank you for listening.
Adam DeSanctis, VP, Communications at Mortgage Bankers Association
As a strategic public affairs and communications executive with nearly two decades of experience, Adam has deep expertise in strategy, management, and media relations. He is widely regarded as an expert in a variety of communications, including advocacy, brand, executive, crisis, grassroots, and social media. In his career, he has been the MBA spokesperson on a wide variety of real estate research and advocacy-related issues, promoted MBA research and advocacy efforts to financial, political, and trade industry media and on MBA’s social media channels, and secured media opportunities for MBA leadership on key real estate trends and issues, generated media coverage for MBA’s research and data on mortgage applications, credit availability, homebuilder applications, mortgage forbearance/delinquencies, commercial real estate originations, and forecasts, and other industry analysis, developed key strategic initiatives for MBA’s organizational public affairs plan, media relations and member communications support for mPower, MBA’s Opens Doors Foundation and MBA’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs.