Housing advocates say the new, lower benchmarks generally favor middle- and working-class borrowers at the expense low-income and very low-income borrowers.
A negative profitability gap means the guarantee fees on newly acquired loans weren’t enough to cover the expected cost of guaranteeing the loans and earning the expected return on capital.
Researchers tell Congress that, despite the role the FHLBanks played in the bank failures of 2023, a higher level of FHLBank borrowing has historically been associated with positive outcomes for members.
Although FHFA, under Director Bill Pulte, has shied away from the green and climate priorities of prior administrations, UAD 3.6 still allows green and energy efficiency features to impact valuations.
Between 2022 and 2024, Fannie’s open multifamily fraud investigations spiked from 14 to 193. In the same interval, actual fraud findings went from 3 to 87.
Freddie is revising its liquidity verification documentation requirements for sponsors to include a liquidity verification worksheet with delivery of the full underwriting package.
Fannie alerts seller/servicers to stiffer fraud detection rules. For example, lenders have 24 hours to report any borrower if they’re found on the Department of Treasury’s foreign assets control sanctions list.
The GSE ditched its energy efficiency home improvement loan product in favor of a more generic product targeting smaller projects. The new HomeStyle Refresh product becomes available at the end of March.