Any changes to the Community Reinvestment Act should strengthen – not weaken – banks’ obligations to meet the needs of minority and low-income communities and expand access to mortgage credit in historically redlined areas, said civil rights and consumer advocacy groups.

Two federal government agencies have reopened the debate over the use of a disparate-impact analysis to show discrimination against protected classes. It’s unclear how much the agencies can do in reworking their regulations, or how aggressive they will be in taking up cases based on the theory.

The Urban Institute advocates dropping the debt-to-income cap for qualified mortgages to level the playing field between the government-sponsored enterprises and the private market.

One housing lobbyist dismissed the bill as misguided, adding: “This is like someone laying on their death bed after drinking and sinning and finally realizing they need to get baptized.”

Never one to mask his complete disdain for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Rep. Jeb Hensarling let it rip...

Many industry groups said it is problematic to use statistics to determine discrimination...

The letter – signed by trade groups both large and small – comes a day before the 10th anniversary of the federal takeover of Fannie and Freddie...

Since 2012, Fannie and Freddie have been minting money...

There’s a growing concern about a potential reduction in GSE loan limits…

The CFPB in the Trump era is likely to abandon or limit the use of the disparate-impact theory in enforcing fair lending laws, said attorneys. “Given the lack of ‘effects’ language in [the Equal Credit Opportunity Act] and the [CFPB’s] stated focus on enforcing statutes as they are written, we expect that they will determine that ECOA does not support a disparate-impact theory,” said Jeffrey Naimon, a partner at Buckley Sandler. Under the disparate-impact theory ...