CFPB: Announces First No-Action Letter in Efforts to Support Consumer-Friendly Innovation
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) today announced a no-action letter issued to Upstart Network, Inc., a company that uses alternative data in making credit and pricing decisions. As a condition of the no-action letter, Upstart will regularly report lending and compliance information to the CFPB to mitigate risk to consumers and aid the Bureau’s…
Joint Release: Agencies Propose Amending CRA Regulations to Conform to HMDA Regulation Changes and Remove NSP References
The federal bank regulatory agencies today issued a joint notice of proposed rulemaking to amend their respective Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) regulations primarily to conform to changes made by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to Regulation C, which implements the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA). Since 1995, the Board of Governors of the Federal…
CFIB: Identity Theft Protection Following the Equifax Data Breach
By Kristin Dohn Millions of Americans have been impacted by the recent Equifax data breach. Whether or not your personal information has been stolen, there are steps you can take to protect yourself and your credit. What is identity theft, and what can you do? Sometimes criminals who steal data use it to engage in…
Federal Reserve: Improving the 30-Year Fixed-Rate Mortgage
FEDS (Finance and Economics Discussion Series) 2017-90 | August 2017 Wayne Passmore and Alexander H. von Hafften Abstract: The 30-year fixed-rate fully amortizing mortgage (or “traditional fixed-rate mortgage”) was a substantial innovation when first developed during the Great Depression. However, it has three major flaws. First, because homeowner equity accumulates slowly during the first decade,…
FHFA: Index Shows Mortgage Rates Decreased in July 2017
Nationally, interest rates on conventional purchase-money mortgages decreased from June to July, according to several indices of new mortgage contracts. The National Average Contract Mortgage Rate for the Purchase of Previously Occupied Homes by Combined Lenders Index was 3.99 percent for loans closed in late July, down 1 basis point from 4.00 percent in June….
SBA: Administrator Addresses Federal Regulatory Reform; Small Businesses Encouraged to Comment on SBA Regulations
Administrator Linda McMahon, head of the U.S. Small Business Administration, today encouraged small businesses to comment on the Federal Register notice posted earlier this month. The notice is in response to President Trump’s Executive Order 13777 which aims to ease the burdens placed on America’s small businesses. Under this Executive Order all federal agencies are…