News By Edition

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the legal team for Townstone Financial filed a joint motion asking the court to vacate the settlement the CFPB reached with Townstone in November, which resolved allegations of redlining and violations of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) against the Chicago mortgage broker.

The CFPB called the Townstone case “abusive,” “unjust” and “a seven-year harassment saga.” Attorneys on the Townstone team talked to RESPA News about this unprecedented reversal by the bureau.

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes and Arizona Department of Real Estate Commissioner Susan Nicolson spoke with attendees of RESPRO One about how the two departments are working together to focus on areas of RESPA-related compliance in their state.

Another chapter was written in the ongoing legal saga concerning the embattled Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Shortly after a federal court partially lifted a court order preventing mass firings at the bureau, the Trump administration resumed its plans to gut the agency, prompting the courts to intervene again.

The Federal Housing Administration published Mortgagee Letter 2025-12, “Tightening and Expediting Implementation of the New Permanent Loss Mitigation Options,” which set a date to sunset the COVID-19 era loss mitigation waterfall, among other things.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Washington, D.C., headquarters has been added to the U.S. General Services Administration’s list of federal buildings marked for accelerated disposition, part of the Trump administration’s strategy to streamline federal operations.

Both the number of entities offering homebuyer assistance programs and the number of programs themselves increased across the country in the first quarter, according to Down Payment Resource’s Q1 2025 Homeownership Program Index report. The average benefit to borrowers was $18,000.

Legislators in both the U.S. Senate and House reintroduced the Housing Supply Frameworks Act, which would direct the Department of Housing and Urban Development to develop zoning and land-use policies for communities to use to bolster affordable housing supplies.

The Legal Defense Fund reached a settlement on behalf of a New York-based fair housing group against a realty company accused of limiting housing opportunities for Black homebuyers through racial steering.

Zillow announced new listing access standards that require listings to be posted in the Multiple Listing Service within one day of publicly marketing to consumers. The new standards come after the National Association of Realtors announced its “Multiple Listing Options for Sellers” policy, which permits a seller to delay marketing a listing.

Legislation aimed at banning the use of trigger leads in the real estate marketplace was reintroduced in the House and Senate. The bills are the latest in a series of bipartisan attempts to do so over the past half decade.

Patrick Stone, chairman and founder of Williston Financial Group, shared a wide swath of economic data and predictions for this year during the “Q2 Economic Outlook” complimentary October Research webinar.

Mortgage credit availability increased in March, driven by growth in cash-out refinance programs, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Mortgage Credit Availability Index.

U.S. Rep Mike Flood (R-Neb.), Housing and Insurance Subcommittee chairman, and U.S. Rep Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.), ranking member of the subcommittee, kicked off a bipartisan initiative to reauthorize the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Home Investment Partnership Program and the Community Development Block Grant programs.

When a homeowner’s house caught fire and his insurer denied the claim because the policy had lapsed, he blamed the lapse on his mortgage servicer and accused it of failing to re-up his coverage. He sued the servicer for mismanaging his escrow account in violation of RESPA. The servicer moved for summary judgment.

As state attorneys general continue ramping up supervisory and enforcement activities in the consumer financial protection space, Ballard Spahr assembled a team of attorneys whose specialties include helping navigate firms through increasingly complex state-level regulatory waters.

Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte said over 100 Fannie Mae employees have been fired since he was sworn in as chairman of the board of directors of the government-sponsored enterprise.

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) is extending existing foreclosure moratoriums on FHA-insured single-family mortgages affected by Hurricanes Helene and Milton for another 90 days.

Refinances made up a quarter of all rate lock activity in March, according to Optimal Blue’s latest Market Advantage mortgage data report. That was the highest level seen since September 2024.

The National Fair Housing Alliance and 13 other fair housing and consumer protection organizations filed an amicus brief opposing a joint request by Townstone Financial and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to vacate the settlement in CFPB v. Townstone Financial, Inc., et al.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau appealed the D.C. District Court’s decision to impose a preliminary injunction against further actions it deems as an effort to eliminate the agency, as claimed in a lawsuit filed by the National Treasury Employees Union.

A recent paper by the Urban Institute encourages policymakers to consider leveraging the tax code to help improve housing affordability, as more spending on housing is done through the tax code than through housing programs administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Scott Turner sent a letter to HUD grantees and stakeholders reinforcing the directive that federal housing assistance will no longer be granted to undocumented immigrants or sanctuary cities.

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) announced a new application programming interface testing platform designed to streamline digital interactions and improve the efficiency of FHA’s loan origination processes.

The Trump administration announced it intends to eliminate a Department of Veteran Affairs’ program launched last year to help veterans who are struggling financially to avoid foreclosure.

New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin and the Division on Civil Rights issued a finding of probable cause against a same-day lender alleging the business refused to lend to prospective clients based on race, national origin and nationality.

The finding alleged the firm’s owner and other employees instructed sales staff not to do business with people of certain racial and ethnic groups.

While just under half of the real estate agents surveyed by Redfin for its 2025 Industry Survey said their buyer’s agent commission has remained the same since the National Association of Realtors settlement changes took effect, just over half expect those commissions to decline this year. And two out of five agents said the settlement changes negatively impacted their business.

The Government Accountability Office confirmed it will review cuts the Department of Housing and Urban Development made to fair housing enforcement at the direction of the Department of Government Efficiency.

Pending home sales improved 2 percent in February. Despite that modest increase, contract signings were well below normal, according to the National Association of Realtors’ chief economist.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced the publication of Home Mortgage Disclosure Act Modified Loan Application Register data for 2024, as required by federal statute. Previously, the data could be obtained only by making requests to specific institutions.

A U.S. District Court judge in the District of Massachusetts granted a temporary restraining order reinstating $30 million in Fair Housing Incentives Program grant funding that was terminated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development at the direction of the Department of Government Efficiency.

A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction against the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and Trump administration officials, ruling that recent staff cuts and other actions were part of an unlawful attempt to eliminate the CFPB, as argued by the union representing agency employees.

Although the plaintiffs in the case welcomed the decision, the matter is not settled. A day after the March 28 ruling, the defendants filed an appeal in the U.S. D.C. Court of Appeals.

The National Association of Realtors announced an “organizational revamp” aimed at reducing costs, streamlining operations and positioning the group to be more responsive to both industry and member needs. Part of the restructuring involves eliminating 61 positions.

The House Financial Services Committee’s hearing about how to balance accountability at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau with its statutory mandates highlighted the stark division among legislators and regulators on this issue.

After the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) announced a new policy that will restrict access to FHA-insured mortgages for non-permanent residents, the president of the National Association of Mortgage Brokers is asking Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte to not make the same change at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

More than 20 U.S. Senators from both sides of the aisle sent a letter to U.S. Department of the Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent expressing their support for the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, which a recent executive order from President Donald Trump called for eliminating. 

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) will continue its Clear Cooperation Policy (CCP) for its multiple listing service participants, but it also announced a new policy that introduces a new category of exempt listings.

NAR said it spent months reviewing the CCP, which has been the subject of court battles with both competitors and the Department of Justice.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development revised residency requirements for borrowers seeking Federal Housing Administration-insured mortgages, eliminating eligibility for non-permanent residents.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency rescinded guidance establishing expectations for the government-sponsored enterprises regarding unfair or deceptive acts or practices.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) asked the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois – Eastern Division to vacate the settlement in CFPB v. Townstone Financial, Inc., et al., which resolved allegations of redlining and violations of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) against the Chicago mortgage broker owned by Barry Sturner.

When a homeowner lost her job due to the pandemic, she accepted her mortgage servicer’s offer to place her mortgage loan in forbearance. When she got a new job and applied for a loan modification to bring the loan current, the servicer notified her the modification was withdrawn because the agreement was not properly executed. While sending the servicer notices of error and request for information, the house was foreclosed on. The homeowner sued the servicer for RESPA violations, and the servicer moved for dismissal.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced it terminated the temporary authority granted in 2022 that allowed some non-citizens to be eligible to apply for a guaranteed loan through the Single-Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Program. 

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development published an updated Community Development Block Grant - Disaster Recovery universal notice as part of the department’s efforts to streamline and simplify its disaster recovery processes and more quickly deliver assistance.

Mortgage credit availability increased in February, according to a report from the Mortgage Bankers Association. It increased for the third straight month to the highest level since March 2023.

Five Democratic Senators called on the Government Accountability Office to investigate the cuts to fair housing enforcement at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development by the Department of Government Efficiency.