Regulatory reform

The agency’s director previewed a policy for companies under enforcement action to have their orders terminated if they comply ahead of schedule.

The agency’s director previewed a policy for companies under enforcement action to have their orders terminated if they comply ahead of schedule.

Lenders contend the proposal goes beyond policing third-party debt collectors and could expose banks to enforcement actions and lawsuits.

The House Financial Services chair is sponsoring a bill with one of the Democratic presidential contenders aimed at alleviating the public housing capital backlog.

Changing or eliminating the exemption to the qualified mortgage rule could harm consumers and put smaller lenders at a disadvantage to the big banks.

The agency will review the TRID regulation, which combined disclosure requirements of two separate laws, as part of a mandate to evaluate major policies five years after their effective date.

There's been chatter that investors are shying away from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage-backed securities because Congress may not enact housing finance reform. Be skeptical of those claims.

The 2015 decision posed new legal challenges for institutions trying to sell loans to third parties, but the federal regulatory agency proposed steps Monday for banks and debt parties to evade state interest rate caps.

The financial policy views of progressive candidates atop the presidential field are sure to worry bankers, but it would be difficult for any new president to implement sweeping regulatory changes.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s exemption from the Qualified Mortgage rule is on borrowed time, but a House bill would allow lenders to use the mortgage giants’ guidelines for documenting borrower income.

Recent Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac activities are “not the kind of day-to-day behavior that you would expect from companies” under federal control, the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency said.

A lower court “erred” when it sided with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s investors, the Justice Department said in its petition to the high court.

When it comes to possible new competitors in the secondary market, the heads of the two current outlets more than welcomed the possibility of additional players in their space because of housing finance reform.

The regulator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac discussed steps the companies have already taken to limit their risk, as well as efforts to prevent housing market “overlap” with the FHA.

At a House hearing covering a whole host of housing finance reform topics, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's regulator said "if the circumstances" call for eliminating investors, "we will."

As lawmakers tackle Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, any revamp must lessen risk to the mortgage system and U.S. taxpayers.

CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger announced the creation of a task force to research and identify potential conflicts in consumer finance law.

Institutions that offer fewer than 500 open-end lines of credit will get another two-year exemption from reporting requirements under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act.

The industry had welcomed the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau plan allowing debt collectors to use electronic communication, but some worry about the effect of a court decision concerning email correspondence.

Allowing the mortgage giants to retain profits resolves a short-term capital shortfall, but how much capital they would need after exiting conservatorship is still the bigger question.