Should You Engage a Financial Advisor?
Discrimination and Bias in Residential Lending
Five Steps a Healthcare Banker Recommends When Acquiring a Medical or Dental Practice
What is an Appraisal?
Episode 014: Business Divorce Stories: Business Appraiser Tony Cotrupe and Attorney Jeff Eilender
Episode 1: Chris Mercer Interview on Marketability Discount: Part 1
Episode 2: Chris Mercer Interview on Marketability Discount: Part 2
Episode 11: Mediating Business Valuation Disputes: Conversation with Arthur Rosenbloom
Recently the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) rescinded various FHA mortgage loan requirements in a series of five Mortgagee Letters....more
On October 4, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the Federal Reserve Board (Fed) announced increased dollar thresholds used to determine whether certain consumer credit and lease transactions in 2025 are...more
On July 1, 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”)—the primary federal watchdog of the consumer finance industry—along with several other federal agencies, approved a new rule to regulate the use of automated...more
On June 6, 2024 federal regulators published a final rule addressing Quality Control Standards for Automated Valuation Models. This was a collaborative rulemaking effort that included regulators from the Office of the...more
In this podcast episode, Dean and Len discuss the timely issue of appraisal discrimination and bias within the context of Fair Lending. Dean highlights the FFIEC's recent guidance on mitigating risks related to discriminatory...more
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), through the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), recently issued Mortgagee Letter 2024-07 addressing reconsideration of value (ROV) policies in connection with...more
In this month's article, we share some of our top "bites" covered during the March 2024 webinar. Bite 10: CFPB Issues Statement on Privacy and Personal Data - On February 28, 2024, the CFPB issued a statement on...more
On March 18, Rohit Chopra, Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), submitted comments to the Appraisal Subcommittee (ASC) regarding its oversight of The Appraisal Foundation. Director Chopra, who serves...more
As 2024 gets off the ground, federal regulators are continuing their focus on fair lending issues. In February, the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) released a statement on examination principles...more
In this article, we share a timeline of our monthly "bites" for 2023 applicable to mortgage along with some additional related information. ...more
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) recently published another FHFA Insights blog post addressing the underutilization of appraisal time adjustments by appraisers that is a companion to an FHFA Insights blog post that...more
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) recently published a FHFA Insights blog post that cites the underutilization of appraisal time adjustments by appraisers....more
Mortgage originators and secondary market issuers use automated valuation models (AVMs) in determining the worth of collateral securing mortgages on consumers’ principal dwellings. As part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform...more
With a roll-out led by Vice President Harris, the federal financial services regulators have released the long-awaited proposed automated valuation model (AVM) rule, referencing both home appraisal bias in mortgage lending...more
On March 1, Fannie Mae issued a Selling Guide announcement to introduce a range of options for establishing a property’s market value, noting that it is “moving away from implying that an appraisal is a default requirement.”...more
On February 14, CFPB Fair Lending Director Patrice Ficklin joined senior leaders from the FDIC, HUD, NCUA, Federal Reserve Board, DOJ, OCC, and FHFA in submitting a joint letter to The Appraisal Foundation (TAF) urging the...more
On January 12, HUD Secretary Marcia L. Fudge announced at a Brookings Institute event that HUD is creating a process that people seeking FHA financing can use to request a review of their appraisal if they believe the results...more
Recently, FHA published a draft mortgagee letter (ML) proposing policy changes to its requirements for processing and documenting reconsideration of valuation (ROV) requests, specifically when requests are initiated by a...more
In the News. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), along with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and more than 50 federal and state law enforcement partners, announced Operation Corrupt Collector, a nationwide law...more
In Mortgagee Letter 2020-20 dated June 29, 2020, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced the extension of FHA temporary guidance regarding employment verification and appraisals due to COVID-19. The...more
In response to COVID-19 developments, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have issued guidance regarding verifications of employment (VOEs), income continuity, appraisals, title policies, and other matters. The Fannie Mae guidance is...more
Newly released minutes from the Fed’s January meeting show central bankers preoccupied with global risks, including the still-growing economic impact of the coronavirus, while still taking a wait-and-see approach to any...more
Real Property Update - Quiet Title / Motion to Dismiss: Trial court not permitted to consider or take judicial notice of amended lis pendens and partial release of mortgage that were outside the counterclaim to which a...more
As we previously reported, last November the FDIC, Federal Reserve Board and Comptroller of the Currency (the federal banking agencies) proposed a rule to implement a rural residential property appraisal exemption under the...more
The federal banking agencies recently issued Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on appraisal and valuation functions in response to recent questions they received on their real estate appraisal regulations and guidelines....more