USDA plans revisions to its single-family housing loan guarantee program guide; HUD raises civil monetary penalties; USDA lowers interest rates for its direct loan program; NAIHC names new executive director; FHA and USDA offer training opportunities in March.

The Supreme Court in a unanimous decision last week ruled that federal home loan agencies are not immune from civil monetary penalties for violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

Loans to communities ranked with a high social vulnerability index made up roughly 22% of Rural Housing Service-guaranteed single-family home loans in the fourth quarter of 2023. (Includes data table.)

Rep. Member Maxine Waters, D-CA, urged Congress to pass the housing package that had been part of an earlier session’s Build Back Better bill; MISMO launches working group for federal housing agency dataset to support servicers; VA updates COVID-19-era loss-mitigation support; VA extends rescission date for assisted appraisal processing program; USDA raises appraisal fee for direct loans; USDA announces limited waiver for SFHGL servicers.

The Community Home Lenders of America recently called for a single credit scoring process across conventional and government home loan programs. Spokespersons for FHA, VA this week said the agencies are considering a bi-merge credit scoring process.

The bill offered by Democratic leaders would create a partial claims program similar to FHA’s offering.

The vast majority of FHA loans originated by both banks and nonbanks are securitized. Meanwhile, Banco Popular is retaining some of its FHA production in portfolio.

Real estate agents keep a significant percentage of home listings away from being advertised to FHA borrowers, new research shows.

A recent VA circular detailed how lenders can nominate new VA-approved credit underwriters.

FHA insured about $17.1 billion in new loans under its hospital mortgage insurance program between fiscal years 2000 and 2022, the Government Accountability Office said in a new report.