In coordination with the Federal Housing Finance Agency on January 14, 2021, Fannie Mae in Lender Letter 2021-03 and Lender Letter 2021-04 and Freddie Mac in Bulletin 2021-1 extended certain loan origination flexibilities due...more
Although HMDA reporting institutions are busily working on their submission of 2020 data, the CFPB recently announced the availability of a beta version of the HMDA reporting platform for 2021 data. (As previously reported,...more
The CFPB recently announced that the platform for the submission of Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data collected in 2020 is now available for the submission of the data. The platform may be accessed here. HMDA data for...more
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) recently issued a request for information (RFI) seeking input on appraisal-related policies, practices and processes in connection with home mortgage loans. Comments will be due 60...more
The CFPB recently issued a final rule increasing the asset exemption threshold under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) and a final rule increasing the asset exemption threshold for the Truth in Lending Act (TILA)...more
In a series of Mortgagee Letters, each dated December 17, 2020, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) extended the dates of various policies addressing the COVID-19 national emergency....more
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced on December 2, 2020, the extension of the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac moratorium on single-family foreclosures from December 31, 2020, to January 31, 2021. The moratorium on...more
Three industry trade associations sent a letter dated December 17, 2020, to federal agencies, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac seeking guidance on the CARES Act concept of the covered period during which a borrower may request a...more
The CFPB recently issued a final rule amending Regulation Z ability to repay rule/qualified mortgage (QM) requirements to replace the strict 43% debt-to-income (DTI) ratio basis for the general QM with an annual percentage...more
As previously reported, in August 2020 the CFPB released the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) Filing Instruction Guide (FIG) for data that must be collected in 2021 and reported in 2022. Recently, the CFPB released an...more
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac extended certain loan origination flexibilities due to COVID-19 from November 30, 2020, to December 31, 2020. The changes occurred November 13, 2020, through Fannie Mae updates to Lender Letter...more
The CFPB recently announced that it, along with the Comptroller of the Currency and Federal Reserve Board, issued a final rule that will maintain the current exemption threshold to the appraisal requirement for higher priced...more
In Mortgagee Letter 2020-34, dated October 20, 2020, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) extended the date for approving an initial COVID-19 forbearance with an FHA loan, or a COVID-19 extension with a...more
The CFPB recently issued a final rule that amends the Regulation Z ability to repay/qualified mortgage rule by extending the sunset date for the qualified mortgage (QM) based on a loan meeting certain product requirements and...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
The CFPB recently released a regulatory and reporting overview reference chart for Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data to be collected in 2021. ...more
In the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2021 and Other Extensions Act, which was signed into law on October 1, 2020, the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) was extended until September 30, 2021...more
As previously reported, in April 2020 the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Inspector General (HUD OIG) issued a statement criticizing how mortgage servicer websites were providing information on the...more
10/5/2020
/ CARES Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
FHA Loans ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Forbearance Agreements ,
HUD ,
Mortgage Servicers ,
Mortgages ,
OIG ,
Online Platforms ,
Websites
On September 24, 2020, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced the extension of the purchase of loans in a COVID-19 forbearance by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac through October 31, 2020. Additionally, FHFA announced...more
As previously reported, in August 2020 the CFPB issued a proposed rule to create a new seasoned loan qualified mortgage (QM) under the Regulation Z ability to repay rule. Initially, comments on the proposal were due by...more
In Loan Guaranty Circular 26-20-33, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs temporarily authorized the use of deferments as a loss mitigation option for borrowers with a COVID-19 forbearance....more
9/17/2020
/ CARES Act ,
Department of Veterans Affairs ,
Forbearance Agreements ,
Interest Rate Reduction Refinancing Loan (IRRRL) ,
Loan Guaranties ,
Loan Modifications ,
Loss Mitigation ,
Mortgage Servicers ,
Mortgages ,
VA Loans ,
Veterans ,
Veterans Administration
Since late July, the CFPB has issued seven consent orders against mortgage companies in which the CFPB asserts that the companies engaged in false and misleading advertising to service members and veterans. ...more
9/10/2020
/ Consent Order ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Advertising ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Mortgages ,
Regulation Z ,
Title X ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices ,
Veterans Administration
As previously reported, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) recently announced the extension of various Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac origination flexibilities due to COVID-19 to September 30, 2020. Fannie Mae, in updates...more
On August 27, 2020, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced the extension of the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac moratorium on single-family foreclosures from August 31, 2020, to December 31, 2020. The moratorium on...more
8/28/2020
/ Department of Veterans Affairs ,
Eviction ,
Fannie Mae ,
Federal Housing Administration (FHA) ,
FHA Loans ,
FHFA ,
Foreclosure ,
Freddie Mac ,
HUD ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Mortgages
As previously reported, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac recently announced that there are no plans to extend the eligibility for purchase of loans in a COVID-19 forbearance for loans with note dates after August 31, 2020....more