New credit score data, such as rent payment history and bank account cash flows, may benefit some mortgage borrowers, but the new elements could also cause some problems.

While FHFA Director Bill Pulte had announced that the GSEs would “immediately” begin accepting VantageScore 4.0, FHFA acknowledged this week that implementation will take some time.

A new bill seeks to require FHFA to create a public database of information on all mortgage appraisals. The proposal comes as the Trump administration disbanded the Biden-era task force created to address appraisal bias.

FHFA said lenders can now use VantageScore 4.0 when underwriting GSE loans. It’s not clear, though, if the mortgage industry is ready to take advantage of the opportunity.

The FHLBanks responded forcefully to complaints that they fail to live up to their affordable housing mission and that they are a threat to the financial system.

Advocates for GSE reform offered the Trump administration some useful guardrails to consider as it plots ending the conservatorships of Fannie and Freddie.

Industry insiders push the National Directory of New Hires as an alternative to a current process involving the IRS as a way to verify income and employment while expanding the digitization of the mortgage process.

Bill to limit trigger leads passes in House; Fannie economists see higher interest rates; home prices decline in April; HUD on the move; FHFA directs GSEs to propose using cryptocurrency in calculations for mortgage applicant’s reserves.

The Mortgage Bankers Association has suggested the FHFA end its tri-merge process, replacing it with a single credit report rather than the bi-merge model as currently planned.

Alarmed by the administration’s repeated references to ending the conservatorships of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, leading Democrats in the Senate are attempting to tap the brakes.