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
On June 25, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) issued a directive ordering Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to prepare proposals for treating cryptocurrency held on U.S.-regulated exchanges as assets for reserves in...more
Fannie Mae (1938) and Freddie Mac (1970) were created with the end goal of promoting homeownership across the United States. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, both government-sponsored entities (“GSEs”), are publicly traded and...more
Mr. Pulte is now the great poohbah of Fannie and Freddie supervising the Twins from his seat at FHFA and also now acting as chair of their respective boards. What is he going to do (assuming he has any agency here)?...more
“Build-to-rent” means what it sounds like: A builder constructs single-family homes specifically designed for renters. Also known as “build-for-rent,” these communities began in Phoenix during the Great Recession and have...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
On February 26, several U.S. Senators sent a letter to HUD Secretary, Scott Turner, raising concerns about the Secretary’s role in the potential reprivatization of government sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and...more
January 14, 2025- Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Chair Martin Gruenberg gave a speech entitled “Three Financial Crises and Lessons for the Future,” at the Brookings Institution....more
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has issued a Request for Input (RFI) to gather public input on tenant protections in multifamily properties backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The FHFA aims to understand the...more
Recently, the FHFA issued a request for input (RFI) on a single-family pricing framework for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (GSEs), including feedback on policy priorities and goals that FHFA should pursue in its oversight of the...more
It’s not actually Aunt Fannie but her Chief Economist Doug Duncan who has concluded today that the party ended in March as interest rates spiked 200 basis points since January 1. Fannie Mae revised new homes sales for March...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
On April 21, 2021, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will extend certain loan origination flexibilities, including alternative appraisals on purchase and rate-term refinance...more
BuzzFeed has struck a deal with Verizon Media to acquire HuffPost, a mash-up that “would join a pair of digital-media giants that have found themselves searching for readers and revenue as they have fallen prey to some of the...more
In recent weeks, the US federal housing agencies and government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) that insure, guarantee, or purchase “federally backed mortgage loans” covered by Section 4022 of the CARES Act (Act) have continued...more
In a prior alert, we reported that in view of the ability of mortgage loan borrowers to obtain payment forbearances under the CARES Act, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) limited the advance obligation of Fannie Mae...more
As previously reported, on April 22, 2020, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac addressed the temporary eligibility for the sale of mortgage loans in a COVID-19 forbearance....more
On May 19, 2020, Fannie Mae in an update to Lender Letter 2020-03 and Freddie Mac in Bulletin 2020-17 announced temporary eligibility requirements for new purchase and refinance transactions involving borrowers affected by...more
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced on May 14 that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the GSEs) are extending their moratorium on foreclosures and evictions until at least June 30, 2020. ...more
Federal and state regulators and Congress continue to release new guidance and requirements to assist mortgage borrowers facing economic hardships resulting from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. ...more
On April 22, 2020, the Federal Housing Finance Agency announced that it is allowing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the “GSEs”) to purchase loans that go into forbearance within the first month after closing. Previously, the GSEs...more
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced on April 21 that servicers’ obligation to advance scheduled monthly payments for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Enterprises) backed single-family mortgage loans in...more
Monday saw U.S. oil prices take an unprecedented plunge into negative territory, as “concerns grew that storage tanks in the United States were near capacity and unable to hold all the unused code” (with the “bizarre movement...more
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have both issued guidance addressing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on borrowers with multifamily property mortgages....more
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac issued several guidance letters and bulletins to sellers and servicers in response to the COVID-19 pandemic....more
What legislative activity can we expect in 2020 in the area of housing finance reform? With the Senate kicking off the New Year with an impeachment trial, it is highly unlikely Congress will make much headway on housing...more