Newsroom
Banking Regulators Propose New CRA Reforms
Yesterday, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Federal Deposit and Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and the Federal Reserve released new proposed guidelines for how bank examiners will enforce the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). The new guidance amends the agencies’ “Questions and Answers” worksheet, which is intended to provide clarification on how CRA requirements are enforced. The revisions are part of an ongoing effort the agencies have undertaken to align CRA standards with modern banking practices.
Report Finds National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling Program Achieves Positive Results
Earlier this week, the Urban Institute (UI) released its final evaluation of the National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling (NFMC) program. Congress created the NFMC program in 2008 to address the nation’s foreclosure crisis through foreclosure mitigation counseling operated through state and local agencies and nonprofits.
CAP Report Outlines Concerns with FHA Distressed Asset Stabilization Program
The Center for American Progress (CAP) released a report last week which provides an overview of the Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA) Distressed Asset Stabilization Program (DASP). The report focuses on how DASP facilitates loan sales, who is buying the loans, and the outcomes of the loan purchases. CAP’s analysis of DASP is based on HUD’s recently released post-sale results report, which NCSHA summarized here.
Moody’s Report Highlights Positive HFA Economic Trends
A report released last week by Moody’s Investors Service finds that HFAs in FY 2013 experienced increased profitability, higher asset-to-debt ratios, and growing fund balances as a percentage of bonds outstanding. The study, which is based on audits from 49 states and 4 rated local HFAs, discusses three major findings:
Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies Releases Report on Housing America’s Older Adults
This week, the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University (JCHS) released a report entitled "Housing America’s Older Adults: Meeting the Needs of an Aging Population." The report examines a number of trends for older adults, defined in the report as those aged 50 years and older, including housing preferences, disability rates, and income.
NCSHA and MBA Urge HUD to Eliminate Face-to-Face Meeting Requirement
Last week, NCSHA and the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) sent Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Commissioner and Assistant Secretary for Housing Carol Galante a letter requesting that HUD rescind its requirement that a mortgagee have a face-to-face meeting with a borrower before the borrower becomes three months delinquent. FHA regulations require that all mortgagees, before
HUD Report Touts Successes of Loan Sales Program
According to HUD’s Quarterly Report on FHA Single Family Loan Sales (SFLS), released last week, its SFLS initiative is meeting its intended goal of minimizing loses to FHA’s Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund MMI Fund while reducing taxpayer risk. As the charts below show, the report states that MMIF loss rates have decreased from 63.5 percent in the first quarter of 2010 to 52.9 percent in the second quarter of 2014 and the average price under the SFLS program has risen from 40 percent of unpaid principal balance (UPB) in 2012 to 60 percent in 2014.
FHFA Proposes 2015-2017 Affordable Housing Goals for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
On August 29, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) published proposed affordable housing goals for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for 2015-2017. The current annual affordable housing goals, required under the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, are effective through the end of 2014. Single-Family Goals FHFA’s proposed single-family housing goals are the same as the
NLIHC Report Describes Growing Affordable Rental Housing Gap
On August 25, the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) released the latest issue of its periodical, Housing Spotlight. This issue, titled The Affordable Rental Housing Gap Persists, summarizes the findings of a report NLIHC recently published on the availability of affordable rental housing for lower income households and focuses on the gap between the number of households in specific income groups and the number of rental homes that are both affordable and available to them.
Bipartisan Policy Center Holds Housing Forum
The Bipartisan Policy Center hosted a regional housing forum in Idaho on August 21, 2014, featuring discussions on housing finance reform, the Housing Credit, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), and rural housing.
USDA Delays Implementation of Section 502 Guaranteed Loan Program Guidelines to December 1
This morning, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) officially announced that it is delaying until December 1 the effective date of an interim final rule the agency released in December 2013 that would make a number of changes to its Single Family Housing Loan Guarantee program. The rule was initially set to go into effect on September 1.
July Housing Scorecard Reports Sales of Existing Homes Up, Sales of New Homes Down
Earlier this month, the Obama Administration released its July Housing Scorecard. The report states that the housing market has continued to show signs of progress as sales of existing homes continue to rise for the third consecutive month, while foreclosure starts and completions remain in decline. Sales of new homes are markedly lower than last month despite May’s numbers being revised downward since last month’s report.
