Russ Vought’s CFPB has been busier over the past two weeks, but not because of increased enforcement or supervision efforts. Instead, recent actions indicate that the administration intends to keep Vought in the acting director position so he can shutter or even more substantially shrink the CFPB and the laws it enforces. But the CFPB’s
On November 13, 2025, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) amending Regulation B – the regulation implementing the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA). The proposed rule addresses three principal areas: (1) it clarifies that ECOA does not authorize disparate-impact liability; (2) it further defines “discouragement” under 12 CFR
Home equity products enable homeowners to unlock the value of their homes through a variety of financing contracts. Each product has distinct features, benefits, and risks. In this post, we compare and contrast common home equity products, including home equity lines of credit (HELOC), closed-end home equity loans (HEL), reverse mortgages, and home equity agreements
Last month, in the unpublished opinion Olson v. Unison Agreement Corporation, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit found that a home equity investment (HEI) agreement met the definition of a reverse mortgage under Washington law and was not, as the company intended, a real estate option contract (2025 WL 2254522
On June 30, 2025, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a large “budget trailer” bill that will have significant consequences on the mortgage industry. In relevant part, the new law addresses foreclosures on so-called zombie second mortgages. And while some regulation in this space may be warranted to ensure best practices, California’s new rule may
After years of denying review, the New York Court of Appeals — the state’s highest court — agreed to address the question of whether New York’s momentous Foreclosure Abuse Prevention Act (FAPA) applies retroactively. On May 20, 2025, the New York Court of Appeals accepted review of two (2) cases that present challenges to Section
In recent days, Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Bill Pulte has made it clear that he believes fraud is a rampant problem at FHFA. In a stream of related activities, Pulte has called on the public to report fraud via email and a new Hotline, terminated over 100 FHFA employees for alleged fraud, and
On April 3, 2025, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced it will end the Veterans Affairs Servicing Purchase (VASP) program on May 1, 2025. This decision comes just shy of one year since the program’s inception. The VASP program was originally implemented as a rescue program to help veterans and their families after
On December 17, 2024, amid a flurry of activity by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the agency released an Issue Spotlight discussing “problems with mortgage companies” that homeowners face “after divorce or [the] death of a loved one.” The report relies on consumer complaints that have been submitted through the CFPB’s complaint portal to
On December 12, 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced its final rule, redefining overdraft fees as finance charges in order to limit overdraft fees. The final rule seeks to regulate how overdraft fees are charged and collected in an effort to save consumers money. The CFPB believes the new rule will save