Originally published on January 21, 2022 by the White House. 

Today, President Biden announced during his remarks at the U.S. Conference of Mayors that his Administration is teaming up with states, cities, labor, and industry to launch the Building Performance Standards Coalition, the first-of-its-kind partnership between 33 state and local governments dedicated to delivering cleaner, healthier, and more affordable buildings. With nearly 20% of the nation’s building footprint in their jurisdictions, the partnership facilitates new commitments to design and implement building performance standards at the state and local level, create good-paying, union jobs, lower energy bills for consumers, keep residents and workers safe from harmful pollution, and cut emissions from the building sector. Today’s announcement builds upon the Department of Energy’s efforts to upgrade one million homes and makes progress toward President Biden’s goal to retrofit four million buildings and two million homes during his first term.

Originally published on February 7, 2022, by NAFCU Newsroom.

The NCUA, CFPB, and several other agencies including the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), and Federal Reserve Board (FRB) Friday wrote to The Appraisal Foundation (TAF), a private non-governmental entity with the sole power to set professional standards for appraisers, regarding appraisal discrimination. The agencies called out TAF for failing to “include clear warnings about the requirements of federal law in the standards it sets, and in the training it provides for appraisers.” 

The National Fair Housing Alliance, under contract by the Appraisal Subcommittee and the Council on Licensure, Enforcement, and Regulation, on Jan. 19 released its report on whether the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice and Appraiser Qualifications Criteria support or promote fairness, equity, objectivity and diversity in both appraisals and the training and credentialing of appraisers. The findings and recommendations are far-reaching, and some will require legislative action.

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Originally published on January 5, 2022, by Georgia Kromrei for HousingWire.com.

Some Federal Housing Administration-approved mortgage servicers have routinely flouted the agency’s loan modification program, according to Washington, D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine and 20 other state attorneys general.

Originally published on December 15, 2023, by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA).

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) today published its 2022 third-quarter data for the Uniform Appraisal Data (UAD) Aggregate Statistics Data File.

Originally published on December 6, 2021by Justin Sink for Bloomberg.com.

The U.S. Treasury Department will begin developing regulations that could expand reporting requirements for all-cash real estate purchases as part of the Biden administration’s efforts to cut down on global corruption, according to two senior administration officials.

Originally published on December 1, 2021, by Michael Robinson for The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Federal Reserve Board, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency today announced that the 2022 threshold for exempting loans from special appraisal requirements for higher-priced mortgage loans will increase from $27,200 to $28,500.

Originally published on November 19, 2021, by Georgia Kromrei for HousingWire.com.

The Department of Veterans Affairs will raise appraisal fees and lengthen allowable turnaround times in select markets across the country in response to the high demand for appraisals.

Originally published on November 30, 2021, by the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) today announced the conforming loan limits (CLLs) for mortgages to be acquired by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Enterprises) in 2022. In most of the U.S., the 2022 CLL for one-unit properties will be $647,200, an increase of $98,950 from $548,250 in 2021. 

Originally published on November 17, 2021, by Adam Russell for the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

Today, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) released the 2022 Scorecard for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac (the Enterprises), and Common Securitization Solutions, LLC (CSS). The purpose of the 2022 Scorecard is to hold the Enterprises and CSS accountable for fulfilling their core mission requirements by promoting sustainable and equitable access to affordable housing and operating in a safe and sound manner.

Originally published on November 17, 2021, by the Appraisal Institue.

The Appraisal Institute Board of Directors voted to adopt three 45-Day Notice items during its Nov. 11-12 meeting in Chicago. The 45-Day Notice items address Designated Member Status, Compensation Committee, and Standards of Valuation Practice.

Originally published on October 18, 2021, by Adam Russell for Federal Housing Finance Agency.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) today announced two measures to sustainably advance the affordability of homeownership for mortgage borrowers across the nation, especially those in underserved communities.

Originally published on October 7, 2021, by Sarah Foster for BankRate.com.

The U.S. economy’s sharp rebound from the pandemic that sent inflation soaring to its highest in decades might push up interest rates over the next year, according to a new survey from Bankrate.

Originally published by Anneken Tappe on September 22, 2021 for CNN Business.

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This past July, Chapter members Mike Moody, MAI, Mike Elwell, MAI, SRA, R/W-AC, John C. Palmer, MAI, CCIM, and Greyson S. Morgan, MAI had a very successful visit to the state capitol where they met with Representative Jon Hardister, House Majority Whip; Representative John Bell, House Majority Leader; Representative Terry Brown; and Representative Brian Turner to discuss current and upcoming legislation topics that impact the North Carolina appraisal industry.

Originally published on September 1, 2021, by Adam Russell for FFHA. 

Washington, D.C. – Today, through the First Look Program, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) extended from 20 to 30 days, the period during which owner-occupants, public entities, and nonprofits will have exclusive ability to buy Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Enterprises) real estate owned (REO) properties before they are available for investor purchase. Launched in 2009, the First Look Program promotes owner occupancy and neighborhood stabilization. Providing individuals, families, and nonprofits with a longer amount of time to find adequate financing should help keep owner-occupants living in these homes.

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Originally published on September 1, 2021, by the White House. 

Since President Biden took office, the economy has created more than 4 million jobs, with an average of more than 830,000 new jobs over the last three months. In the first half of the year, the economy grew at the fastest rate seen in nearly 40 years.

Originally published on July 14, 2021, for BloombergNews.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said it was still too soon to scale back the central bank’s aggressive support for the U.S. economy, while acknowledging that inflation has risen faster than expected.

Originally published on July 6, 2021, for the Mortgage Bankers Association.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau this week issued a report highlighting legal violations identified by the Bureau’s examinations in 2020. The report also highlights prior CFPB supervisory findings that led to public enforcement actions in 2020 resulting in more than $124 million in consumer remediation and civil money penalties.

Originally published on June 30, 2021, for the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

​Washington, D.C. – The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) today released a set of new and expanded statistical products from the National Mortgage Database (NMDB®). FHFA expanded the national statistics for new residential mortgage originations to include monthly, quarterly, and annual series for home purchase and refinance mortgages in all major market segments. FHFA also added a new series of national and state-level statistics for outstanding residential mortgages and an expanded series of national mortgage performance statistics for different market segments.