SBA: Interim Rule Issued to Adjust Size Standards to Expand Lending & Contracting Opportunities
Deadline to comment on interim final rule is Sept. 16, 2019 The U.S. Small Business Administration recently issued an interim final rule that will adjust monetary-based small business size standards for inflation to allow more small businesses to become eligible for the SBA’s loan and contracting programs. The interim final rule was published in the Federal Register on July…
CFPB: FTC, CFPB and States Announce Settlement with Equifax Over 2017 Data Breach
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Bureau), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and 48 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico announced a global settlement today with Equifax that would provide up to $700 million in monetary relief and penalties. In a complaint and proposed stipulated judgment filed in federal district court in the Northern…
CFPB: Report on Third-Party Debt Collections Released
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Bureau) released a report today that found that more than one-in-four consumers with a credit report have at least one debt in collection by third-party debt collectors. Today’s report, which covers 2004 to 2018, is drawn from the Bureau’s Consumer Credit Panel (CCP), a nationally representative sample of approximately 5…
FHFA: Index Shows Mortgage Rates Decreased on April 2019
FHFA has determined that due to dwindling participation, the Monthly Interest Rate Survey will be discontinued. This is the final monthly release. Nationally, interest rates on conventional purchase-money mortgages decreased from March to April, according to several indices of new mortgage contracts. The National Average Contract Mortgage Rate for the Purchase of Previously Occupied Homes…
Interagency Guidance: Host State Loan-to-Deposit Ratios Issued
The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency today issued the host state loan-to-deposit ratios that they will use to determine compliance with section 109 of the Riegle-Neal Interstate Banking and Branching Efficiency Act of 1994. These ratios replace the…
FDIC: Agency Resolves Payday Lender Lawsuit
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has resolved a lawsuit with Advance America, Cash Advance Centers, Inc.; Check Into Cash, Inc.; and Northstate Check Exchange. Advance America et al. v. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation et al. (D.D.C.). The lawsuit had alleged terminations of payday lender bank accounts. In exchange for the plaintiffs’ agreement to dismiss the lawsuit,…
FHFA: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Total Refinance Volume Increases in March 2019 as Interest Rates Falls
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) today reported that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Enterprises) completed 234,716 refinances in the first quarter of 2019. FHFA’s first quarter 2019 Refinance Report also shows that 901 loans were refinanced through the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP), bringing the total number of HARP refinances to 3,495,296 since inception of the program…
HUD: FHA Proposes New Lender Certification Requirements
Effort designed to improve clarity and certainty of compliance rules, expand financing options for borrowers The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) today proposed several revisions to its lender certification requirements with the goal of providing lenders and servicers greater certainty in how to satisfy the agency’s compliance requirements. In providing greater certainty to the process, FHA…
Federal Reserve: Final Rule Approved to Repeal Regulations for SAFE Act
The Federal Reserve Board on Thursday approved final amendments to its regulations to reflect the transfer of the Board’s rulemaking authority for the Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act (S.A.F.E. Act) to the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (Bureau). Entities that were subject to the Board’s rules are now subject to the Bureau’s…
SBA: Office of Surety Guarantees Award Winners Recognized
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) recognizes the Office of Surety Guarantees award winners for their continued work to help small contracting businesses acquire surety bonds. Three SBA surety bond partners were selected to receive awards based on their participation, activity, claims and recovery, and their commitment to helping small businesses obtain contracts with both…