Fair Lending Shake-Ups: CFPB Vacates Townstone Settlement, FHFA Ends GSEs' Special Purpose Credit Programs — The Consumer Finance Podcast
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
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
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) recently announced the conforming loan limits for residential mortgage loans acquired by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in 2025. Fannie Mae addresses the limits in Lender Letter...more
On October 9, FHFA introduced a new Manufactured House Price Index to provide quarterly data on price trends for manufactured homes, a market segment which it noted is an affordable option for homebuyers. The new data series...more
Welcome to the latest edition of the Spectrum, covering hot-topic issues in the structured finance markets in the U.S. and UK. This edition features the new UK securitization regime, eHELOCs, and climate risk disclosures....more
On July 1, the CFPB and FHFA released updated loan-level data from 2013-2021 through the National Survey of Mortgage Originations (NSMO). The NSMO, established in 2014, gathers quarterly data from borrowers who recently...more
On June 20, FHFA conditionally approved a limited pilot program for Freddie Mac to begin purchasing certain single-family closed-end second mortgages. This decision came after implementing a new approval process for products...more
What Happened? On June 20, 2024, a group of federal regulators published a rule addressing for the use of automated valuation models (AVMs) in mortgage origination and secondary market transactions....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
As part of the CFPB’s crusade against junk fees, CFPB Director, Rohit Chopra addressed credit report fees in prepared remarks at the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Secondary & Capital Markets Conference & Expo 2024. While...more
On March 12, the FHFA published a final rule in the Federal Register titled “Exception to Restrictions on Private Transfer Fee Covenants (PFTCs) for Loans Meeting Certain Duty to Serve Shared Equity Loan Program...more
On February 12, 2024, the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) issued a statement of principles that relate to valuation discrimination and bias for its member entities to consider in preparation for...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 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
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 Wednesday, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (“FHFA”) released a long-awaited report on its review of the Federal Home Loan Bank (“FHLB”) System. The FHFA first announced its FHLB System at 100 initiative in August of...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
Stemming from the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) 2019 validation and approval of credit score models final rule, the FHFA announced in October 2022 that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored...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
On May 10, FHFA announced it is rescinding a debt-to-income-based loan-level pricing adjustment announced in January. As previously covered by InfoBytes, FHFA made several changes relating to upfront fees for certain...more
On April 5, FHFA announced updates to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s (GSEs) equitable housing finance plans for 2023. The updates include adjustments to plans first announced last year, which faced pushback from several...more
On March 29, FHFA announced enhanced payment deferral policies for borrowers facing financial hardships. Under the newly enhanced policies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will allow borrowers to defer up to six months of mortgage...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