On the Hill is NAMB's bi-weekly read on what's happening in Washington and why it matters to mortgage brokers.
Each issue cuts through the noise to bring you the federal policy, legislation, and regulatory moves shaping your business, along with the context and action items you need to stay ahead.
Brought to you by the National Association of Mortgage Brokers, the voice of the broker community since 1973. |
It was a landmark stretch in Washington. Congress cleared the largest housing package in decades, FHA rolled out a batch of cost-cutting changes, the FHFA kept reshaping the GSEs, and rate watchers kept one eye on the Fed. Here's what brokers need to know. |
Lead Story: Congress passes the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act |
After nearly a year of negotiation, Congress passed the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act (H.R. 6644), the most sweeping housing package in decades. The Senate approved it 85 to 5 on June 22, and the House followed 358 to 32 on June 23. The bill combines dozens of measures into roughly 50 provisions aimed at boosting housing supply, lowering costs, and shifting more control to the local level. It is the product NAMB and others have tracked since the earlier House and Senate housing bills.
What's in it for brokers:
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Small-dollar lending: authorizes a four-year FHA pilot to expand access to mortgages under $100,000, and directs the CFPB to study LO compensation and small-dollar lending, with authority to adjust points-and-fees thresholds to make these loans more workable.
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Appraisal reform: reforms appraiser licensing and trainee pathways, and requires USDA, VA, FHA, and FHFA lenders to maintain procedures for borrower-requested value reconsiderations or second appraisals. GAO is directed to study a public appraisal database.
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Manufactured and modular homes: eliminates the permanent chassis requirement for manufactured homes and directs regulators to ensure modular homes do not face steeper financing barriers than site-built homes.
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Institutional investors: limits large institutional investors to owning no more than 350 single-family homes, with reporting requirements. A Senate provision requiring investors to sell newly built homes within seven years was dropped from the final bill.
One twist: President Trump canceled the planned signing ceremony on June 24, leaving the timing of enactment a live question even with overwhelming bipartisan support. We'll track where it lands and flag the rulemakings that follow, since much of the broker impact depends on how HUD and the CFPB implement these provisions.
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Fannie Mae expanding its title waiver pilot on refinances
FHFA Director Bill Pulte said on June 23 that Fannie Mae is moving to expand its title acceptance pilot, which lets approved lenders skip a lender's title insurance policy or attorney opinion letter on certain refinances with loan-to-value ratios under 80%. FHFA frames it as a way to cut closing costs, with federal estimates of $500 to $1,500 in savings per refinance. The same week, a First American study cautioned that pulling lower-risk refinances out of the insured pool could raise premiums for the borrowers who remain, and warned that even refinances are not zero-risk. For brokers, this is a closing-cost and title-workflow story worth watching, and one your title partners will have strong views on.
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FHFA proposes pushing Fannie and Freddie deeper into manufactured-home lending
On June 24, the FHFA published a proposed revision to the Duty to Serve rule in the Federal Register, calling for Fannie and Freddie to do more in chattel lending, where the home is titled as personal property rather than real estate. The agency notes that roughly 70% to 80% of new manufactured homes are titled as personal property, and is opening the proposal to public comment. The move could expand access to a more affordable housing type, and it reopens a long-running debate about whether the GSEs should operate outside traditional real-estate-secured lending. This is a comment opportunity for NAMB and members who work the manufactured-housing space.
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FHA rolls out 14 changes to cut costs and red tape
On June 23, HUD announced 14 policy changes to FHA's Single Family mortgage insurance program aimed at lowering costs and easing regulatory burden, timed to National Homeownership Month. HUD says FHA has now taken more than 150 streamlining actions since the start of the administration. The updates span origination through servicing and quality control. Highlights brokers will notice:
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Appraisal field reviews: streamlines QC field review requirements that average $425 each, a change HUD estimates will save industry partners about $3.3 million a year while better aligning FHA with other programs.
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203(k) rehab loans: expands flexibility under the Limited 203(k) Rehabilitation program by increasing the number of contractor draw requests, making rehab projects easier to complete.
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Mortgagee approval and QC: permanently exempts early payment defaults caused by natural disasters from the required QC review sample, which HUD says will help smaller lenders participate in the FHA program.
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Closing paperwork: eliminates the duplicative requirement to use the Important Notice to Homebuyers Form 92900-B, simplifying the closing process.
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Loss mitigation: clarifies the rules governing trial payment plans to protect the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund and guard against abuse, while aiming not to penalize proactive borrowers.
Watch for the corresponding Mortgagee Letters and Single Family Handbook updates, which will carry the operative effective dates for your pipeline.
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The leadership clock, and the rules brokers are watching
The CFPB has been without a Senate-confirmed director since Rohit Chopra's departure, and most administrative-law experts believe acting director Russell Vought cannot stay in the role past August 1. President Trump's nominee for the permanent post, Brian Johnson, is viewed by industry observers as a serious pick who could actually move pending rulemakings. For brokers, the two revisions worth watching most closely are loan originator compensation (LO comp) and RESPA servicing, both of which NAMB and others have pushed to modernize for years. The open question is whether a confirmed director is in place in time to advance them.
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- 30-year fixed: 6.47% (Freddie Mac PMMS, week ending June 18), down from 6.52% the prior week and 6.81% a year ago. A new weekly reading is due June 25.
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15-year fixed: 5.81% (Freddie Mac, June 18).
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Daily pricing held near 6.50% on the 30-year through June 24 (Optimal Blue), with rates little changed after a more hawkish tone from the Fed at its June meeting.
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Whether and when the ROAD to Housing Act is signed into law, and the HUD and CFPB rulemakings that will determine its real-world impact on brokers.
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The FHFA Duty to Serve comment period on manufactured-home chattel lending.
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The August 1 CFPB leadership deadline and any movement on LO comp and RESPA servicing.
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