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
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
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 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
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
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
We continue to gauge the potential for Congress to act on the administration’s housing finance plan and/or pass their own before adjourning for the year. When Congress returned from August recess, members faced an ambitious...more
The U.S. Department of Treasury recently issued the long-awaited Housing Reform Plan, and among various topics the Plan addresses the temporary qualified mortgage under the Regulation Z ability-to-repay rule for loans that...more
AARMR and CSBS are hosting a National Mortgage Policy Summit for policymakers, regulators, and the industry on November 13, 2019 in Washington, D.C. ...more
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) recently announced that it will allow the so-called “GSE patch” to expire in January 2021. This patch permits Government-Sponsored Entities Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to buy...more
The new 116th Congress convened on January 3, 2019, with members of Congress sworn into office. Although the first month was consumed by the partial government shutdown, Congressional committee assignments were finalized, and...more
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) recently announced a nearly 7% increase in the conforming mortgage loan limits for 2019....more
A lot of the furor over Elon Musk’s recent “going private” tweets has centered on whether he actually had the financial backing needed to pull it off. The Times sets aside that initial inquiry to explore the why and how,...more
Late last month, President Trump’s administration released a wide-sweeping reform and reorganization plan for the federal government. Included in this plan was a proposal to reform two of the largest government sponsored...more