Mortgages, FHFA, Banking Sector

FHFA approves Freddie Mac's second mortgage pilot

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP on 7/3/2024

On June 20, FHFA conditionally approved a limited pilot program for Freddie Mac to begin purchasing certain single-family closed-end second mortgages. This decision came after implementing a new approval process for products...more

Banking and Consumer Regulatory Digest - April 2024

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP on 5/1/2024

Editor's Note The following newsletter provides a roundup summarizing enforcement actions, guidance, rulemakings, and other public statements taken by a federal and/or state financial services regulatory agency, specifically...more

FHFA releases comprehensive report of entire FHLBank system

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP on 11/13/2023

On November 7, the FHFA released a report titled “FHLBank System at 100: Focusing on the Future,” providing a comprehensive overview of the Federal Home Loan Banks (FHLBank) system in its entirety. ...more

FHFA Commits to Flexible Timeline for Transitioning Credit Score Model Validation

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck on 6/1/2023

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

FHFA updates GSE equitable housing finance plans

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP on 4/10/2023

On April 5, FHFA announced updates to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s (GSEs) equitable housing finance plans for 2023. The updates include adjustments to plans first announced last year, which faced pushback from several...more

FHFA expands deferral policies for hardships

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP on 4/3/2023

On March 29, FHFA announced enhanced payment deferral policies for borrowers facing financial hardships. Under the newly enhanced policies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will allow borrowers to defer up to six months of mortgage...more

FHFA Establishes Office of Financial Technology and Issues RFI on Fintech in Housing Finance

Troutman Pepper on 7/20/2022

On July 19, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA or the Agency) announced the establishment of the Office of Financial Technology to serve as a source of information, Agency support in addressing emerging risks, and...more

FHFA Eliminates Adverse Market Refinance Fee

Goodwin on 7/30/2021

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

Supreme Court Decision Empowers President Biden to Replace Director of FHFA

Goodwin on 6/25/2021

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

ISS Publishes 2021 Proxy Voting Guidelines

Goodwin on 11/19/2020

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

OCC Finalizes “True Lender” Rule

Goodwin on 10/29/2020

In the News. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) finalized its “true lender” rule, which establishes that a national bank or federal savings association (bank) is the “true lender” of a loan if, as of the...more

Financial Services Weekly Roundup: Code Libor – SEC And OCIE Issue Risk Alert In Preparation Of Libor Discontinuation

Goodwin on 6/26/2020

In This Issue. The Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) issued a Risk Alert about the scope and content of examinations OCIE plans to conduct of various...more

Financial Services Weekly Roundup: OCC Finalizes New CRA Rule; Regulators Continue To Provide COVID-19-related Relief

Goodwin on 5/21/2020

In This Issue. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) finalized a rule to strengthen and modernize regulations under the Community Reinvestment Act; the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voted to adopt...more

Nutter Bank Report: February 2020

Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP on 2/27/2020

Federal Reserve Revises Framework for Determining Control of a Banking Organization The Federal Reserve has adopted a final rule to simplify and clarify its regulations for determining control of a banking organization for...more

FHFA announces reopening and second extension of comment period for LEP RFI

Ballard Spahr LLP on 8/8/2017

The Federal Housing Finance Agency has announced that it has reopened and extended until September 1, 2017 the comment period on its Request for Input on improving language access in mortgage lending and servicing. The FHFA...more

FHFA extends comment period for LEP RFI

Ballard Spahr LLP on 7/13/2017

The Federal Housing Finance Agency has announced that it has extended until July 31, 2017 the comment period on its Request for Input on improving language access in mortgage lending and servicing....more

Industry groups ask FHFA to extend comment period for LEP RFI

Ballard Spahr LLP on 7/6/2017

A group of eight trade associations has sent a letter to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) asking the FHFA to extend by at least 45 days the comment period on the FHFA’s Request for Input (RFI) on improving language...more

FHFA Announces Increases in Maximum Conforming Loan Limits for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for First Time in 10 Years

Ballard Spahr LLP on 12/5/2016

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has announced that the maximum conforming loan limits for mortgages acquired by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in 2017 will increase to $424,100 from $417,000. While the increase is...more

FHFA Will Exclude Language Preference Question From New URLA

Ballard Spahr LLP on 8/8/2016

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has updated the industry on its progress in making changes to the Uniform Residential Loan Application (URLA). FHFA restated that their goal has been to finalize the new URLA by the...more

FHFA Request for Input on Single-Family Credit Risk Transfer – Certain Salient Matters

Orrick - Finance 20/20 on 7/8/2016

In its request for input on single-family credit risk transfer RFI, FHFA expresses a strong preference for large, economically efficient, repeatable transactions, as well as programs that create a level playing field for both...more

GSEs Release Revised Framework for Origination Defects and Remedies — The Proof Will Be in the Execution

K&L Gates LLP on 10/22/2015

By recently releasing yet another revised representation and warranty framework, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac continued their efforts to assuage the concerns of the lending industry that a default by a borrower poses an unfair...more

CFPB issues technical reports on National Mortgage Database and National Survey of Mortgage Borrowers

Ballard Spahr LLP on 9/10/2015

On August 27, 2015, the CFPB issued two Technical Reports: one on the National Mortgage Database (NMDB), and the other on the National Survey of Mortgage Borrowers (NSMB). The NMDB project is a joint undertaking by the FHFA...more

Loan Officers Say ATR/QM Rules Make Mortgage Approvals More Difficult

Stinson - Corporate & Securities Law Blog on 8/7/2014

Around 34% of all loan officers responding to a Fed survey indicated the CFPB’s Ability-to-Repay and Qualified Mortgage Standards under the Truth in Lending Act (the ATR/QM rule) makes it more difficult to get conforming...more

Mortgages › Fair Housing Finance Agency › Banking Sector

"My best business intelligence, in one easy email…"