Wendy Sherman: “I thank the gentleman for yielding. I thank our colleague from Texas (Mr. Taylor) for working with me on this bill, the…”

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. I thank our colleague from Texas (Mr. Taylor) for working with me on this bill, the Homebuyer Assistance Act of 2021. I thank the gentleman from Arkansas and the gentleman from Missouri for doing an excellent job of explaining the importance of this bill to the House, so I will be brief. There is no more important day in the economic life of a family than when they buy a home, particularly, their first home, and appraisers play an important role in that very important day. So this bill looks to bring into synchrony the rules of the FHA dealing with appraisers, the FHA being the third-largest Federal home loan finance agency, bring those standards into conformity or rough conformity with the two larger Federal home loan finance agencies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. This will help deal with the shortage of appraisers that we are seeing in various parts of the country. Appraisers are an important part of the home-buying process for both lenders and borrowers to provide assurance that the amount of the mortgage is supported by the estimate property value. Since 2010, all the State-licensed home appraisers have been required to meet minimum Federal education experience and examination requirements set by the Appraiser Qualifications Board. So the standards set by the Appraiser Qualifications Board are fully sufficient for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and they should be for the FHA as well.…”