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
What Happened? On June 26, Federal Housing Finance Agency (“FHFA”) Director William Pulte told Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the “government sponsored entities”) to draft policies that would consider a borrower’s cryptocurrency...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
Continuing a focus on knowing your clients and fraud, Fannie Mae released last week Title and Closing Requirements for Multifamily Mortgage Loans Form 4650, a comprehensive update that will impact how you set up future...more
Fannie Mae published its Preferred Equity Guide Update (25-06) and its Preferred Equity Checklist (Form 6441) in mid-April. Although unpublished iterations have been circulating for the past two years, lenders and law firms...more
On April 16, three senators urged the FHFA Inspector General to investigate the agency’s purported noncompliance with federal laws and regulations concerning corporate governance at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Sens. Jack Reed...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
In this episode of The Consumer Finance Podcast, Chris Willis is joined by Troutman Pepper Locke colleagues Lori Sommerfield and Lane Page to dissect two unexpected fair lending developments under the new Trump...more
In recent days, Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Bill Pulte has made it clear that he believes fraud is a rampant problem at FHFA. In a stream of related activities, Pulte has called on the public to report...more
On April 15, ten U.S. Senators sent a letter addressed to Mr. Brian M. Tomney, Inspector General of the FHFA, requesting that the FHFA OIG review recent actions taken by FHFA leadership to overhaul the boards at Fannie Mae...more
April 17, 2025 - Federal Reserve Board Governor Michael S. Barr gave a speech entitled, “Deepfakes and the AI Arms Race in Bank Cybersecurity.” April 17, 2025- The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston published an article...more
April 15, 2025 - The Federal Reserve Board, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, National Credit Union Administration and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency temporarily paused certain appraisal requirements for...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
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
March 31, 2025 - The Federal Reserve Board published a working paper entitled “The Evolution of Inflation Targeting from the 1990s to 2020s: Developments and New Challenges.”...more
March 28, 2025 - The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) issued a Financial Institution Letter that provides new guidance for FDIC-supervised institutions engaging or seeking to engage in crypto-related activities...more
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has taken two significant deregulatory steps affecting its oversight of the government-sponsored enterprises, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (GSEs). The agency rescinded a 2024 advisory...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
The blacklisting of condominium/condo associations by financial institutions and insurance providers has emerged as a pressing issue in the real estate finance and housing sector. This practice, which involves lenders or...more
On March 4, the FHFA ordered both government-sponsored enterprises, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, to submit stress testing results based on their financial positions as of December 31, 2024, following scenarios issued by the...more
March 10, 2025 - The Federal Reserve Board, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency reported in the 2024 Shared National Credit (SNC) report that credit risk associated with...more
March 7, 2025 - The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency published Interpretive Letter 1183 to confirm that supervisory nonobjection is no longer needed for crypto-asset custody, and that certain stablecoin activities...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
The Mortgage Bankers Association hosted its annual Commercial Multifamily Finance Convention and Expo (CREF) in San Diego last week, bringing together industry leaders, experts and professionals. Members of the Krooth &...more
February 20, 2025- The Bank Policy Institute, American Bankers Association, Americas Focus Committee of the Association of Global Custodians, Financial Services Forum, Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association...more
February 14, 2025- The Federal Reserve Board published a working paper entitled “Estimating the Volume of Counterfeit U.S. Currency in Circulation.” February 14, 2025- The Federal Reserve Bank of New York published a...more