Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have the Treasury Department’s support when it comes to appraisal waivers, according to a newly published report this week from the Treasury on nonbank financials, fintech and innovation. A portion of the report focused on updating activity-specific regulations under the realm of lending and servicing. Treasury explained that it supports the GSEs’ efforts to implement standardized appraisal reporting, their adoption of proprietary electronic portals to submit appraisal forms and the GSEs’ limited adoption of appraisal waivers. The report acknowledged concerns from the appraisal industry but touted the benefits of using the waivers. “While Treasury acknowledges that

Capital Proposed Rule Comment Period Extended to November. The Federal Housing Finance Agency announced this week that it is extending the public comment period for the agency's proposed rule on Enterprise Capital Requirements by an additional 60 days. The previous deadline for comments was Sept. 17, 2018. The new deadline will be Nov. 16, 2018. FHFA extended the public comment period “due to the high level of interest in the proposed rule and requests from multiple stakeholders for more time to evaluate it.” GSE shareholders group Investors Unite, said, “However complex capital standards are, professionals who dwell in this policy area every day should be able to offer their views within a three-month window.”

The White House has reportedly assembled a dedicated team to find a successor to Watt, believing an early departure is a possibility…

The Mortgage Bankers Association recently asked the federal banking agencies to provide an update on a proposal to increase the amount of mortgage servicing assets that a bank may count to-wards Tier 1 capital. In a letter to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Federal Reserve, the MBA reiterated its support for the agencies’ proposal to raise a recommended 25 percent cap on the amount of mortgage servicing assets that may be ...

In settling, Wells – the nation’s largest home lender and servicer – did not admit any liability.

It's unclear whether the proposed increase in VA home loan fees would be used to fund an expected increase in veteran health-care costs…

Rep. Maxine Waters, D-CA, is none too thrilled with plans by the Treasury Department and Comptroller of the Currency to open up federal banking charters to fintech firms.

The U.S. Treasury Department this week called for a major technology push in financial markets that includes big upgrades in government mortgage-insurance programs. While most of the proposals could be accomplished by the agencies themselves, they also require funding from Congress. A new Treasury report backed Trump administration proposals to fund FHA technology up-grades, some of which could be used to expand digitalization of loan files. Funding legislation on ...

The denial rate on mortgage applications calculated solely from Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data provides a misleading measure of credit availability, according to industry analysts. Analysts from the Urban Institute and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. authored a paper suggesting that the attributes of loan applicants should be taken into consideration when determining denial rates. “Higher denial rates can be the result of either a tighter credit environment or an increase in ...

There are dozens of residential lenders that use the phrase “fintech” to describe their activities, but whether they will file to become a depository is a different matter.