Compliance & Regulation

Fannie Mae is testing a conforming loan product that makes use of a New Hampshire law that lets manufactured housing in resident-owned communities get treated like units in a co-operative building.

The Senate's repeal of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule is arguably the industry's biggest policy victory since passage of Dodd-Frank. But is it the sign of a trend?

Most secondary market outlets, along with the non-qualified mortgage lenders, remain reluctant to lend to legal cannabis workers because of the source and nature of their compensation, but opportunities are beginning to emerge.

The Federal Housing Administration has extended waivers on timelines for disaster-related re-inspections to properties in Puerto Rico affected by Hurricane Maria as well as other properties impacted by California wildfires.

Republicans were able to use an obscure legislative process to overturn a rule that banks and credit unions feared would raise their litigation costs.

Legalizing the recreational use of marijuana has created jobs in Colorado, bringing people into the state and putting stress on its residential purchase and rental markets.

Fannie Mae is staging more pilot projects with lenders and vendors, including one that consolidates submissions of different types of loan data potentially eligible for immediate representation and warranty relief.

Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mel Watt said the agency is poised to examine alternatives to how a Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac assess creditworthiness of home buyers, including seeking public comment on the issue later this fall.

Cannabis businesses are legal in 29 states, but compliance questions on the federal level are keeping mortgage lenders from making loans to the industry's workers.

The Treasury Department released an 18-page report saying the rule would “impose extraordinary costs” including legal fees mostly for lawyers that bring class-action lawsuits.