Blog

Lenders and servicers have entire sets of policies and procedures based on the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) declaring an emergency in a given area. President Trump says FEMA should be eliminated, which would definitely impact this process. Texas officials weren’t fans of FEMA until they needed it. Unfortunately, FEMA has become politicized. Generally, how does politics work, regardless of political party? President Trump’s spending bill passage was in trouble, and it needed Alaska Senator Murkowski’s vote. And that is how 150 Eskimo whalers saw a fivefold increase in the amount they claim in expenses against tax every year, and the subsidy for Alaska’s rural hospitals was doubled from $25 billion to $50 billion. Meanwhile, professional poker players and sports bettors are demanding a change to the massive tax and spending bill since it changed the way gamblers deduct their losses on their taxes. Currently, gambling winnings can be offset by 100 percent of gambling losses. But the deduction will be lowered to 90 percent of losses in the new bill, which professional gamblers and tax professionals say could lead to taxes on income that gamblers did not earn. So “if they won $100,000 and lost $100,000, they still owe money on the $10,000” because only $90,000 can now be deducted, said Rep. Dina Titus, a Democrat representing Las Vegas who introduced a bill this week to reverse the tax change. (Today’s podcast can be found here and this week’s is sponsored by Truework, the only all-in-one, automated VOIEA platform that helps mortgage providers achieve up to 50 percent cost savings with an industry leading 75 percent completion rate. Today’s has an interview with Pennymac’s Kim Nichols on the current state of the broker channel, market dynamics, and strategies shaping the future of third-party origination.)