Fair Lending Shake-Ups: CFPB Vacates Townstone Settlement, FHFA Ends GSEs' Special Purpose Credit Programs — The Consumer Finance Podcast
Weekly Brief: BoA Sued; SCOTUS Shortlists; Fund Fights Argentina
The FHFA has directed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to prepare proposals for consideration of cryptocurrency as an asset for reserves in their single-family risk assessments, without a conversion to dollars....more
To keep you informed of recent activities, below are several of the most significant federal and state events that have influenced the Consumer Financial Services industry over the past week....more
In a significant policy shift under the Trump administration, the new Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Bill Pulte issued an order on March 25, 2025 terminating special purpose credit programs (SPCPs) supported...more
To keep you informed of recent activities, below are several of the most significant federal and state events that have influenced the Consumer Financial Services industry over the past week...more
As previously reported, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in connection with single-family residential mortgage loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), and Fannie Mae and Freddie...more
On April 24, 2024, the CFPB released its Supervisory Highlights, Mortgage Servicing Edition, (Issue 33, Spring 2024) which provides insight on the CFPB’s current focus in examining mortgage loan servicers. According to the...more
The CFPB published a blog discussing a few key takeaways from a series of public hearings addressing appraisal bias....more
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently issued a press release announcing a 2023 update to its Equity Action Plan. The Equity Action Plan is part of HUD’s efforts to implement President Biden’s...more
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently announced the 2024 loan limits for FHA insured forward mortgage loans and FHA insured Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECMs). The announcements were made...more
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) recently announced the conforming loan limits for residential mortgage loans acquired by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in 2024. Fannie Mae addresses the limits in Lender Letter 2023-09....more
On October 30, 2023, President Biden issued a wide-ranging Executive Order designed to protect Americans from potential risks associated with artificial intelligence (AI) systems. The Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and...more
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently announced in Mortgagee Letter 2023.13 that lenders must use the Supplemental Consumer Information Form (SCIF) of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in connection...more
Pursuant to section 1473(q) of the Dodd-Frank Act, a group of federal agencies have proposed a quality control rule for automated valuation models (AVMs). The agencies are the Comptroller of the Currency, Consumer Financial...more
On March 15, FHFA delayed the implementation of a new debt-to-income ratio-based fee to August 1, in order to ensure lenders have sufficient time to prepare. In January, FHFA made several changes relating to upfront fees for...more
On March 8, HUD published a final rule in the Federal Register to allow mortgagees to increase the maximum term of a loan modification from 360 to 480 months for FHA-insured mortgages after a borrower defaults. ...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 January 25, the Biden administration announced new actions for enhancing tenant protections and furthering fair housing principles, which align with the administration’s Blueprint for a Renters Bill of Rights that was...more
On December 21, FHFA issued guidance to Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, the Federal Home Loan Banks (FHLBanks), and the Office of Finance on its model risk management framework. ...more
In the wake of the tragic condominium building collapse in Surfside, Florida, Fannie Mae issued new temporary eligibility guidelines for loans insured by Fannie Mae for condominium units or co-op apartments which are...more
We previously reported on recent mortgage rulemakings that were finalized by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) late last year. Of the two final rules from the Bureau, one drastically simplifies the...more
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) issued two relatively welcome surprises yesterday. First, along with ditching a debt-to-income ratio (“DTI”) ceiling, the agency expanded its proposed general Qualified...more
In the News. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued a long-awaited rule seeking comment on its proposed approach to determine the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) evaluation measure benchmarks, retail...more
In the News. Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) published its proxy voting guidelines updates for 2021, which include new and updated voting recommendations on federal forum and exclusive forum provisions in companies’...more
It is no surprise to anyone involved in consumer lending that laws designed to protect consumers from inception of the loan relationship through collection of the loan following default vary greatly from state to state and...more