The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) just extended the deadline for the Home Affordable Refinance Program, or

​​​​​​Prevailing credit profiles in the mortgage market can influence access to housing credit. Among loans securitized by the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two factors influence such access: the GSEs’ underwriting criteria as implemented through their respective automated underwriting systems and potential additional restrictions or “overlays” that lenders impose.

​​​​Introduction

Climate risk poses a serious threat to the housing finance system in the United States, and its effects are being felt in 

Since May 2010, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, or the Enterprises, have been working to create data standardization of information provided by the mortgage industry.  A key component of data standardization is the Uniform Mortgage Data Program® (UMDP®).  This common approach to capturing and distributing loan data through the UMDP boosts operational efficiency, improves the quality of available data for the Enterprises and lenders, and provides greater clarity and certainty for loan purchases in the secondary market.  

When a borrower is having trouble making their mortgage payment, one of the first things they need to do – after contacting their servicer – is to complete a mortgage assistance application.  Ensuring that the application process is straightforward and as easy to navigate  as possible is one of the most important lessons learned from the crisis.  With this in mind, the Federal Housing Finance Agency has worked with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Enterprises) to revise this application form with the objective of simplifying the loan modification process for borrowers so they

​​Key Takeaways

​​​Recapping FHFA’s Inaugural TechSprint

From Monday, July 10 to Thursday, July 13, 2023, FHFA held its first-ever TechSprint. N​amed “Velocity,” the TechSprint brought together experts and practitioners from the technology and mortgage finance sectors to participate in a team-based, problem-solving event hosted by FHFA’s Office of Financial Technology.

​​​Every year, FHFA's Office of Minority and Women Inclusion (OMWI) issues a report to Congress detailing activities and accomplishments designed to increase diversity and foster inclusion both internally and within the entities we regulate – Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the 11 Federa​​l Home Loan Banks (FHLBanks), and the Office of Finance (OF) (collectively, regulated entities).  It's an opportunity to evaluate how well we're doing in meeting our statutory responsibility to promote diversity and inclusion and take stock of our progress, which was encouraging in 2015. 

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Enterprises) recently released proposed Underserved Markets Plans as part of the Duty to Serve Program, required by Congress in the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA).

These proposed Plans are the Enterprises’ first step to implement the provisions of HERA to serve very low-, low- and moderate-income families in three specific underserved markets:  manufactured housing, affordable housing preservation and rural housing.

​​​​Introduction

The Uniform Appraisal Dataset (UAD) Aggregate Statistics are the first comprehensive publicly available data on appraisals. The data from the first quarter of 2023, released in June 2023, provide new statistics and new property characteristics for the first time since the data were initially published. There are five new statistics on comparable properties (comps) and four new property characteristics for the subject property that provide users with novel information to gain even deeper insights into appraisals.