Weekly Brief: BoA Sued; SCOTUS Shortlists; Fund Fights Argentina
On May 1, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), and the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced new policies that will allow borrowers to challenge property appraisals they believe to be inaccurate or biased....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 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
As part of the Biden Administration’s stated focus on narrowing the racial gap in wealth and homeownership, federal agencies launched an Interagency Task Force on Property Appraisal and Valuation Equity (PAVE), with the goal...more
In This Issue. The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will no longer charge lenders the Adverse Market Refinance Fee; the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is seeking...more
At the close of this month, certain moratoria on foreclosures and evictions are set to lift. While prior deadlines have been extended, it remains to be seen whether another continuance will be granted amidst an increase in...more
On July 7, 2021 Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announced new uniform notes, security instruments and riders. Lenders may begin using the new instruments immediately (Fannie Mae) or for loans originated on or after July 8, 2021...more
In This Issue. In a move that gives him the opportunity to put his stamp on housing policy and the potential overhaul of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, President Biden replaced the Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency...more
March 13, 2021, marked the one-year anniversary of President Trump's declaring COVID-19 a national emergency. Through the CARES Act, agency action and guidance, and various state laws and executive orders, governments across...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
On October 19, 2020, Fannie Mae in updates to Lender Letter 2020-03 and Lender Letter 2020-04, as well as Freddie Mac in Bulletin 2020-40, extended certain loan origination flexibilities due to COVID-19 from October 31, 2020,...more
On October 14, 2020, Fannie Mae issued updates to Lender Letter 2020-02, Lender Letter 2020-05, and Lender Letter 2020-07, and Freddie Mac issued Bulletin 2020-39, regarding COVID-19 and payment deferral servicing guidance....more
In the News. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), along with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and more than 50 federal and state law enforcement partners, announced Operation Corrupt Collector, a nationwide law...more
On August 12, 2020, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announced that the cost to originate and to deliver single family limited cash out refinances and cash out refinance mortgage loans would increase by one half of one percent...more
On August 3, 2020, Fannie Mae updated its COVID-19 servicing FAQs to add an FAQ regarding a COVID-19 forbearance plan with a period of less than 180 days. The FAQ says...more
In this Issue: Senate Votes to Expand Paycheck Protection Program; FHFA (Finally) Addresses Liquidity Concerns for Mortgage Servicers. Yesterday, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed legislation providing $484 billion in...more
On March 27, 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act was signed into law. Among other things, the CARES Act allows residential mortgage borrowers with federally-backed loans to obtain a...more
This week saw a plethora of activity to support federally related loan programs affecting commercial real estate. Below is a summary of the applicable guidance, announcements and proposed laws....more
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that Fannie Mae is not a “consumer reporting agency” under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”). Accordingly, Fannie Mae was not liable to borrowers for alleged...more
When Robbie Robertson wrote the well-known lyrics to The Band’s song “The Weight,” the “Fannie” referenced in the chorus was certainly not Fannie Mae (the Federal National Mortgage Association.) However, this week the United...more
Following the recent hurricanes that have damaged many homes beyond repair, borrowers may seek to apply any available insurance proceeds to satisfy the outstanding balance on their loans rather than repair the property....more
Commercial real estate (CRE) is a tremendously important asset, as the content of this book will discuss. However, the CRE lending and commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) markets are, at the time of writing, largely...more
On November 8, 2011, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Lightfoot v. Cendant Mortg. Corp., a case that will decide an important jurisdictional issue for Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA). See 769 F.3d...more
On July 7, 2016, the Supreme Court of the State of Washington issued its opinion in Jordan v. Nationstar Mortgage, LLC, which, prior to foreclosure, may prevent servicers from securing property after a default or, at least,...more