Hannah Lang

Borrowers and financial institutions may be feeling the strain from reduced operations at the FHA and IRS, which has suspended the release of certain income documentation during the budget impasse.

The agencies are weighing a plan to reduce the scope of residential real estate transactions requiring an appraisal, but appraisers have warned that the proposal could have consequences.

After 10 years of conservatorship, the new year could finally usher in big steps toward housing finance reform.

The House Financial Services Committee held a hearing to examine the outgoing committee chairman's bipartisan GSE reform bill, but lawmakers were already looking ahead.

The process to confirm Mark Calabria as FHFA director could be lengthy, forcing the White House to consider how it will proceed with housing finance reform under Joseph Otting as acting head of the agency.

The White House said that Comptroller of the Currency Joseph Otting will serve as acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency beginning Jan. 6, after Director Mel Watt’s term ends.

A proposal allowing more lenders to skip outside appraisals could remove a hurdle to quick closings, but appraisers say they could be collateral damage.

The current deputy secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Pam Patenaude, will step down in January.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency has proposed barring Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from using credit scores developed by VantageScore over concern about conflicts of interest with the joint venture of Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.

The White House confirmed that it plans to nominate Mark Calabria as the next director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

The administration’s reported interest in having the White House aide run Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's regulator signals a focus on constraining the mortgage giants’ role in the housing market.

The Democrat, who will likely head the Financial Services Committee, has signaled she'll make expanded housing opportunities for lower-income consumers a top priority.

Lawmakers have had to extend the program eight times since October 2017, as Congress has been unable to pass broader reforms.

The Federal Housing Administration's risk-sharing program with the Federal Financing Bank began as a temporary fix, but the agency is exploring how to make it more permanent.

The proposal by Fannie and Freddie’s regulator to impose bank-like capital requirements would be relevant only if the companies leave conservatorship. But that hasn’t stopped lenders from requesting changes.

The effort to raise the threshold for transactions excused from appraisal requirements responds to concerns that the current threshold is outpaced by real estate prices.

The end of one-party rule in Washington could move the needle on efforts to devise a new housing finance framework.

The mortgage insurer’s annual actuarial report showed strength in the agency’s capital reserves even though losses in the “home equity conversion mortgage” program are still a problem.

The revised blueprint by Moelis & Co. LLC incorporates a pending regulatory capital plan for the mortgage giants.

The federal agencies said in a recent statement that “guidance does not have the force and effect of law,” but two trade groups say that standard should be more binding.