A new executive order directs federal agencies to consider changing several major mortgage regulations in part to increase mortgage lending by smaller banks. Consumer advocates raised alarms.

The proposals would reduce capital requirements of banks in terms of mortgages held in portfolio and for mortgage servicing. Federal banking regulators said the goal is to help banks better compete with nonbanks.

Senate last week passed a revised version of legislation aimed at easing housing affordability. House leaders aren’t fully happy with the bill.

The executive order directs federal agencies to revise and, in some cases, eliminate clean energy homebuilding requirements.

The Senate is set to vote on legislation aimed at addressing housing affordability. MBA had supported earlier versions of the bill in the House and Senate.

The three major consumer reporting agencies are using discounted pricing and other strategies to drive adoption of VantageScore 4.0 among mortgage lenders. The score is the main competitor to FICO.

The consent order could have little effect as Luminate Home Loans was folded into Luminate Bank last year and continues to originate mortgages.

Bank and mortgage industry groups are calling for broad reforms to bank capital requirements. Meanwhile, reactions to pending proposals from the Fed tied to bank mortgage holdings and MSRs were mixed.

Looking at VantageScore 4.0 data provided by the three national credit reporting agencies, researchers found that 18% of consumers had one or more scores that was at least 20 points higher than the tri-merge average.

The Federal Reserve will soon issue proposals revising capital requirements set under the Basel framework in a way that could increase bank involvement in mortgage originations and servicing.