Originally published on May 19, 2021. by Fannie Mae.

Originally published on May 26, 2021, by Kriston Capps for Bloomberg CityLab.

Housing Secretary Marcia L. Fudge is making a stop on Wednesday morning at 18th and Vine, the intersection at the heart of Kansas City’s historic Jazz District. Backed by Missouri leaders, she’ll deliver remarks on a theme that she’s been repeating since her confirmation, in speeches, during testimony and over social media: “Housing is infrastructure.”

Originally published on May 19, 2021, for the M Report.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has published its proposed 2022-2024 Underserved Markets Plans, submitted by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac under the Duty to Serve (DTS) program. The proposed Plans cover the period from January 1, 2022-December 31, 2024.

Originally published on May 17, 2021 by TheRealDeal.com. 

Developers who had hoped for potential expansion of Opportunity Zones won’t be getting their way.

The House on May 18 passed HR 3008, the Homebuyer Assistance Act, legislation reintroduced by Reps. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., and Van Taylor, R-Texas, that would amend the National Housing Act and allow state-licensed appraisers to perform appraisals for mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration. The legislation would require compliance with existing appraiser education requirements.

A previous version of the bill was introduced in the last Congress and passed the House, but did not receive a vote in the Senate. House Financial Services Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters is working with Sherman and Taylor to help advance this version of the legislation.

Originally published on April 28, 2021, by the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

​​​​​​Washington, D.C. – The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced today Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Enterprises) will implement a new refinance option for low-income borrowers with Enterprise-backed single-family mortgages. Eligible borrowers will benefit from a reduced interest rate and lower monthly payment. FHFA estimates that borrowers who take advantage of the new refinance option could save an average of between $100 and $250 a month.  

Originally published on April 27, 2021, by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) formally delayed the mandatory compliance date of the General Qualified Mortgage (QM) final rule from July 1, 2021 to October 1, 2022. The CFPB is taking this action to help ensure access to responsible, affordable mortgage credit, and preserve flexibility for consumers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic effects.

Originally published on April 21, 2021, by the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

​​Washington, D.C. – The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced today that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Enterprises) will extend some temporary loan origination flexibilities until May 31, 2021. All temporary flexibilities were originally set to expire on April 30, 2021.

Oriignally published on April 21, 2021, for the Appraisal Institute.

The House Financial Services Committee on April 20 approved HR 2553, the Real Estate Valuation Fairness and Improvement Act, legislation that would establish an interagency task force to analyze federal collateral underwriting standards and guidance, and provide resources for promoting diversity within the valuation profession. The bill now moves to a full House vote, but no date has been set.

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Originally published on April 8, 2021, by Freddie Mac.

MCLEAN, Va., April 08, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Freddie Mac (OTCQB: FMCC) today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), showing that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 3.13 percent.

Originally published on April 8, 2021, by Andy Sullivan for Reuters.com.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Joe Biden is seeking to ease a national affordable housing shortage by pushing local governments to allow apartment buildings in neighborhoods that are currently restricted to single-family homes.

Originally published on April 5, 2021, by The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) today proposed a set of rule changes intended to help prevent avoidable foreclosures as the emergency federal foreclosure protections expire. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing economic crisis, millions of families nationwide have suffered the loss of income and nearly 3 million homeowners are behind on their mortgages. The CFPB’s proposal seeks to ensure that both services and borrowers have the tools and time they need to work together to prevent avoidable foreclosures, recognizing that the expected surge of borrowers exiting forbearance in the fall will put mortgage servicers under strain.

Originally published on April 2, 2021 for The Real Estate Roundtable.

President Joe Biden on March 31 announced the first part of his sweeping economic growth proposal focused on infrastructure and clean energy – a $2.3 trillion, eight-year plan that White House officials said would be funded, over 15 years, by corporate and international tax increases. (Wall Street Journal and White House Fact Sheet: The American Jobs Plan, March 31)

Originally published on March 31, 2021, by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) today announced it is rescinding seven policy statements issued last year that provided temporary flexibilities to financial institutions in consumer financial markets including mortgages, credit reporting, credit cards, and prepaid cards. The seven rescissions, effective April 1, provide guidance to financial institutions on complying with their legal and regulatory obligations. With the rescissions, the CFPB is providing notice that it intends to exercise the full scope of the supervisory and enforcement authority provided under the Dodd-Frank Act. The CFPB is also rescinding its 2018 bulletin on supervisory communications and replacing it with a revised bulletin describing its use of matters requiring attention (MRAs) to effectively convey supervisory expectations.

Originally published on March 17, 2021, by Mike Sorohan for MBA Newslink. 

MISMO announces a 30-day public comment period ending on March 26, 2021 for recent enhancements to the Commercial Appraisal Dataset.  The commend period is intended to enable the public time to review and comment on recent dataset updates completed in response to feedback received during the initial comment period.   

This new dataset will facilitate the efficient exchange of commercial appraisal information, critical for underwriting and loss mitigation, between multiple industry participants. The new dataset was developed from a collaborative effort of the commercial real estate and technology professionals. Following the initial comment period, the dataset was updated to include new building level data points; additions for non-multifamily property types and parties; as well as refinements to various definitions and enumerations.

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Originally published on March 11, 2021 by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA)

Washington, D.C. – The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced today that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Enterprises) will extend temporary loan origination flexibilities until April 30, 2021. The temporary flexibilities are designed to ensure continued support for borrowers during the COVID-19 pandemic. All temporary flexibilities were set to expire on March 31, 2021.

Originally published by Pete Schroeder on February 12, 2021 for Reuters.com.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Reserve on Friday unveiled the hypothetical recession it plans to test large banks against in its 2021 stress tests, which includes “substantial stress” in the commercial real estate and corporate debt markets.

The Federal Housing Administration announced Jan. 20 that it will allow individuals classified under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program who are legally permitted to work in the U.S. to apply for mortgages backed by the FHA. Borrowers must satisfy the same requirements as U.S. citizens to be eligible.

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