On January 14, 2026, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued a proposed rule to “remove its discriminatory effects regulations and [leave] to courts questions related to interpretations of disparate impact liability under the Fair Housing Act.” The proposed rule follows President Trump’s executive orders, along with intervening Supreme Court decisions signaling
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently took concrete steps toward addressing industry concerns and uncertainty related to the Claims Without Conveyance of Title (CWCOT) foreclosure bidding process. Ultimately, mortgagees still must bid the Commissioner’s Adjusted Fair Market Value (CAFMV) at foreclosure sale to file a CWCOT claim with HUD, but pursuant
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) published a request for information (RFI) on October 2, 2025 titled “Future of the HECM and HMBS Programs and Opportunities for Innovation in Accessing Home Equity.” The title alone underscores the RFI’s importance for all participants in HUD’s Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) program
On January 7, 2025, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) officially revised its Defect Taxonomy (Final Defect Taxonomy) with the publication of Mortgagee Letter (ML) 2025-01 and the related attachment detailing those changes. The changes are effective as of January 15, 2025, and will be implemented in Appendix 8.0 of FHA Handbook 4000.1 at a later
On December 19, 2024, the Fair Housing Administration (FHA) and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) published a draft Mortgagee Letter proposing a new Optional Reimbursement Claim Alternative (ORCA) program. ORCA is intended to allow mortgagees to seek reimbursement for property tax and insurance payments the mortgagee advances on behalf of forward
On August 6, 2024, in Mortgagee Letter (ML) 2024-16, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) announced an extension for the implementation of recent Appraisal Review and Reconsideration of Value (ROV) guidelines through and to October 31, 2024. The guidelines, further detailed in our blog post “FHA Announces New Guidelines Allowing Borrowers to Challenge Appraisals
Over the past month, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has enacted and proposed several changes to its Defect Taxonomy. The Defect Taxonomy is contained in Appendix 8 to FHA Handbook 4000.1. The Defect Taxonomy was originally designed to allow FHA to characterize underwriting related errors in FHA mortgages. Now, if these recent changes are
Following a long wait, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) published a revised version of the Fair Housing Administration’s (FHA) handbook governing the origination and servicing of FHA loan products, including Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECMs, which are more commonly known as “reverse mortgages”). While the revisions in the new handbook are
On May 1, 2024, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) issued Mortgagee Letter (ML) 2024-07 titled “Appraisal Review and Reconsideration of Value Updates,” which enhances the agency’s current policy on home valuations. ML 2024-07 underscores FHA’s ongoing commitment to addressing appraisal bias, which directly aligns with the Interagency Task Force on Property Appraisal and Valuation Equity’s
On April 22, 2024, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) published its final rule regarding updated flood insurance requirements in certain areas of the country: Floodplain Management and Protection of Wetlands; Minimum Property Standards for Flood Hazard Exposure; Building to the Federal Flood Risk Management Standard. The new rule implements the