Connie Mack: “the ``mark-to-market'' program that was enacted last year in the VA/HUD appropriations act was expected to be…”

“the ``mark-to-market'' program that was enacted last year in the VA/HUD appropriations act was expected to be implemented by late October of this year. While I applaud the efforts of the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in preparing the implementation of the law, I am still concerned about its progress and ability to meet the October deadline. I am concerned about the President's failure after 9 months to nominate a Director of the Office of Multifamily Housing Assisted Restructuring and that interim regulations have not yet been published. I, however, would like to focus on the fact that HUD has not begun the process for selecting participating administrative entities (PAE). Without them, the program will not work. In the original mark-to-market legislation that passed the Senate as part of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, State and local housing finance agencies (HFA) that had qualified under the mark-to-market demonstration and FHA risk-sharing programs would automatically qualify as PAEs. The Banking Committee felt strongly that HFAs not only were the best entities to administer mark-to-market, but it also had concerns about HUD's ability to select qualified entities in a timely and objective manner.”