The Federal Financial Forum

 By JENNIFER WATERS             (See CRE comments on WSJ website below)

AM  October 31, 2010

If you’re in the market for a newly built home, be on the lookout for a controversial cost called a private transfer fee. It has gotten the attention of Congress and could change how homeowners value their homes.

A private transfer fee, which is also known as a home-resale, capital-recovery or flip fee, is typically 1% of the sales price that a developer or a homeowners association collects at the time of a sale. It generally is directed toward capital improvements in a subdivision or condominium complex and is paid to a homeowners association.

 In that CRE is staffed by former OMB regulatory officials who developed and managed the federal regulatory review process, we are in an excellent position to identify the “hot button” issues of interest to regulators. To this end CRE reviewed the comments sent to the FHFA regarding its proposed guidance to abolish PTF’s and identified three key issues.

 CRE then utilized the Interactive Public Docket (IPD), developed by CRE, to focus public attention on these three critical issues. CRE appreciates the insightful comments it received and is now incorporating them into a CRE position paper on this important topic.

Still plenty to play for on the Dodd-Frank bill

By Gillian Tett

Published: October 28 2010 16:10 | Last updated: October 28 2010 17:17

 Could the Republicans throw sand into the wheels of financial reform in America? That is the $64bn question provoking feverish debate in the financial community on Wall Street and elsewhere.

As the Dodd-Frank financial overhaul bill moved through Congress this summer, the Securities and Exchange Commission — virtually unnoticed — gained a powerful new weapon that could significantly increase the agency’s force and reach, Reuters writes.

A provision deep in the 2,323-page law empowers the S.E.C. to bring many more cases for monetary penalties in administrative courts, where the rules are more favorable to the government than in federal court.

Several constitutional and other due-process protections that are available to defendants in federal court — from the right to demand a jury trial to broad discovery rights — do not exist in administrative courts, which are part of the agency itself.