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
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
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
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
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
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 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
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. 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
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) on October 20 issued a final rule to extend the government-sponsored enterprises patch (GSE Patch), i.e., the “temporary qualified mortgage” exemption within the...more
On July 15, 2020, Fannie Mae in an update to Lender Letter 2020-02 and Freddie Mac in Bulletin 2020-29 updated their COVID-19 servicing guidance to address insurance loss requirements and other matters. Fannie Mae also issued...more
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on June 22 issued two proposed rules with significant implications for the mortgage marketplace....more
The CFPB recently proposed a temporary extension of the qualified mortgage (QM) that is based on a loan being eligible for sale to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac (often referred to as the “GSE Patch”). ...more
As rumored, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) is proposing to revise its general qualified mortgage definition by adopting a loan pricing test. Specifically, under the proposal, a residential mortgage loan...more
In a new era of double-digit unemployment resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, it may be tough for a mortgage lender to predict the amount and stability of someone’s income in order to determine qualification for a home...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
Fiat Chrysler and rival Peugeot have agreed to binding merger terms that, if approved by US and European regulators, would create a “$50 billion auto giant that would rank among the world’s largest car companies by sales”....more
PG&E’s woes continue. Not only is the company still in the midst of a dangerous fire season, but it’s struggling to find a path out of bankruptcy while fending off a growing chorus of cities and state officials “threatening...more