Florida Banking June 2023

STRAIGHT TALK FROM THE PRESIDENT’S DESK

MR. PRESIDENT: SOCIALISM DOES NOT WORK

BY ALEJANDRO “ALEX” SANCHEZ, FBA PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

C ome on, Mr. President; say it ain’t so. According to a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed by the Editorial Board, “Upside Down Mortgage Policy” (April 22, 2023), the Biden Administration has now imposed a monetary penalty on those with good credit scores seeking a mortgage to help those with lower credit scores who apply

If the President wants to fund a first-time buyer mortgage program, that is okay, although it should be noted that many of these programs already exist. However, one thing should be very clear: this new mortgage plan is nothing more than socialism, regardless of what the Administration calls it. I equate this new income redistribution program

for a mortgage. I think that is totally unfair. The Administration is using its rule power over agencies like the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) which regulates federal mortgage guarantors Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, to change our country’s mortgage policies. Here is a piece from the Journal article: “Income redistribution is an abiding value of the Biden Administration, and now it wants to spread that to mortgage lending. A new rule will raise mortgage fees for borrowers with good credit to subsidize higher

with the student loan forgiveness plan unveiled by the Administration in August of last year. Like the new mortgage plan, the President’s student loan plan is total income redistribution. Both programs penalize one group under the guise of helping another. Having immigrated here to this great country from a country that adopted this system in the late 1950s, I can personally attest that socialism does not work, and the government should

"HOWEVER, ONE THING SHOULD BE VERY CLEAR: THIS NEW MORTGAGE PLAN IS NOTHING MORE THAN SOCIALISM, REGARDLESS OF WHAT THE ADMINISTRATION CALLS IT."

risk borrowers. Under the rule, which goes into effect May 1, home buyers with a good credit score over 680 will pay about $40 more each month on a $400,000 loan, and upward depending on the size of the loan. Those who make down payments of 20 percent on their homes will pay the highest fees. Those payments will then be used to subsidize higher-risk borrowers through lower fees.”

never pick winners and losers. Here is my personal point of view and story as an immigrant to this great country. My parents never accepted any welfare or government assistance handouts. They worked two or more jobs each day in the Bronx as they began their new life here and had to make ends meet to raise three big and hungry boys. My mom and dad worked in factories

6 — FLORIDA BANKING THE VOICE OF FLORIDA BANKING