The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) recently announced the conforming loan limits for residential mortgage loans acquired by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in 2026. Fannie Mae addresses the limits in Lender Letter 2025-04....more
On October 30, the FHFA announced it released its annual housing report describing affordable housing activities in 2024 for the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs). The agency found that, in 2024, Freddie Mac met all its...more
On October 2, the FHFA released a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) setting new single-family and multifamily housing goals for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the GSEs) for 2026 through 2028. The proposed rule would introduce...more
Mortgage lenders who do business with the Government Sponsored Enterprises (“GSEs”) should note recent updates to their reconsideration of value (“ROV”) requirements....more
I am joining the hordes occupying the chatter-sphere to opine about what the GSEs should look like, post conservatorship. Having reviewed loads of opinions about the future of the Twins, I’m pretty sure the bar on looking...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
Justin Wiseman, Vice President and Regulatory Counsel at the Mortgage Bankers Association, joins RegFi co-hosts Jerry Buckley and Sherry Safchuk to discuss how housing availability and affordability have moved to the...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
The Ballard Spahr Team was thrilled to be here in Miami at the CREFC Conference and we wanted to share some day one takeaways with our clients and friends....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
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 April 19, FHFA issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to codify several existing practices and programs relating to the agency’s fair lending oversight requirements for the Federal Home Loan Banks and Fannie Mae and...more
On April 12, FHFA published a final rule amending its Enterprise Duty to Serve Underserved Markets regulation. The final rule, which was adopted without change from the proposed rule issued last year (covered by InfoBytes...more
On January 12, FHFA released an advisory bulletin communicating supervisory expectations for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Enterprises) related to the valuation of mortgage servicing rights (MSRs) for managing counterparty...more
On December 22, GSEs Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announced replacement indices based on the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) for their legacy LIBOR indexed loans and securities ...more
As fears of a recession grow, it would be prudent for everyone—servicers and regulators alike—to think hard about default servicing improvements and reforms. More than two years after the COVID-19 pandemic took hold of the...more
Term SOFR emerges as the new market standard for aviation financing and leasing transactions. Market standards are evolving in new SOFR-based financings, including with respect to market disruption, breakage costs and...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 (the GSEs) introduced new uniform instruments (notes, security instruments, and riders) for use with loans to make them eligible for purchase by the GSEs. ...more
Based upon the records of the New York Fed and the Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED) of the St. Louis Fed, the level of reverse repo activity on June 17th -18th reached unprecedented levels. It was previously reported...more
It was previously reported that there were significant repurchase agreement (repo) disruptions with consequent disruptions in the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR). Explained - During the market turmoil...more
On April 27, the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (CFPB) issued a final rule to delay the mandatory compliance date for the General QM Final Rule until October 1, 2022. The CFPB stated that it issued the rule “to help...more
On April 27, the CFPB published a final rule extending the date for mandatory compliance with the new “general” Qualified Mortgage (QM) rule (General QM Rule) until October 1, 2022. In December, 2020, the CFPB published the...more
The COVID-19 Pandemic has wreaked havoc on the mortgage servicing industry, putting significant strain on both mortgage servicers and their borrowers. During this pandemic, mortgage servicers are faced with the difficult task...more