Lending

SBA: Administrator Addresses Federal Regulatory Reform; Small Businesses Encouraged to Comment on SBA Regulations

Administrator Linda McMahon, head of the U.S. Small Business Administration, today encouraged small businesses to comment on the Federal Register notice posted earlier this month. The notice is in response to President Trump’s Executive Order 13777 which aims to ease the burdens placed on America’s small businesses.  Under this Executive Order all federal agencies are…

CFPB: Things to Consider before Borrowing a Reverse Mortgage to Delay Collecting Social Security

For most people, the amount of money you bring in each month decreases after you retire. Yet your expenses, particularly for health care, may not follow suit. So the question on the minds of many approaching this life stage is: how do I replace or supplement my monthly income when I retire? The most obvious…

CFPB: Report Warns that Taking out a Reverse Mortgage Loan can be an Expensive Way to Maximize Social Security Benefits

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) today issued a report warning older consumers about taking out a reverse mortgage loan in order to bridge the gap in income while delaying Social Security benefits until a later age. The CFPB report found, in general, the costs and risks of taking out a reverse mortgage…

Federal Reserve: Revised Interagency Home Mortgage Disclosure Act Sampling, Verification and Resubmission Procedures

The Task Force on Consumer Compliance of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) recently developed the attached interagency Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA)1 Examiner Transaction Testing Guidelines that include sampling, verification, and resubmission procedures for use in connection with HMDA data collected beginning on January 1, 2018 pursuant to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s…

FHFA: U.S. House Prices Rise 1.6 Percent in Second Quarter 2017

Washington, D.C. – U.S. house prices rose 1.6 percent in the second quarter of 2017 according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) House Price Index (HPI).   House prices rose 6.6 percent from the second quarter of 2016 to the second quarter of 2017.  FHFA’s seasonally adjusted monthly index for June was up 0.1 percent…

CFPB: What you Need to Know about the New FFIEC HMDA Examiner Transaction Testing Guidelines

Today, the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) members announced new FFIEC Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) Examiner Transaction Testing Guidelines (Guidelines) for all financial institutions that report HMDA data. The Guidelines will apply to the examination of HMDA data collected beginning in 2018 and reported beginning in 2019. The Guidelines will help ensure accurate…

FHFA: Modifications Announced to High LTV Streamlined Refinance Program and Extension of HARP through December 2018

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) today announced modifications to the streamlined refinance program for borrowers with high loan-to-value (LTV) ratios.  On August 25, 2016, FHFA announced that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Enterprises) would implement a High LTV Streamlined Refinance program to provide much-needed liquidity for borrowers who are current on their mortgage…

Federal Reserve: The Effect of Interest Rates on Home Buying

The Effect of Interest Rates on Home Buying: Evidence from a Discontinuity in Mortgage Insurance Premiums (PDF) Neil Bhutta and Daniel Ringo We study the effect of interest rates on the housing market by taking advantage of a sudden and unexpected price change in a large government mortgage program. The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) insures…