If Congress does not reauthorize the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) by September 30, major parts of the program will expire—a lapse that could cause major problems in the mortgage industry.

In past NFIP lapses, borrowers were not able to purchase flood insurance to close, renew or increase loans secured by property that required flood insurance.… Continue Reading

President Trump is asking the Supreme Court to allow him to fire Lisa D. Cook from the Federal Reserve Board.

“This application involves yet another case of improper judicial interference with the President’s removal authority—here, interference with the President’s authority to remove members of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors for cause,” Solicitor General D.… Continue Reading

In this episode of the Consumer Finance Monitor podcast, host Alan Kaplinsky welcomes Pat Utz, CEO and co-founder of Abstract, a venture capital-backed AI company headquartered in New York. Pat brings extensive expertise on artificial intelligence. The podcast focuses on current developments in AI regulation and implementation, first covering President Trump’s recent “Winning the Race: America’s AI Action Plan” and its potential impact on federal policy.… Continue Reading

Banking groups said their members will have to unnecessarily spend significant time and money if a federal court does not delay the compliance dates of an open banking rule that the CFPB said it intends to rewrite.

“Plaintiffs and their members cannot simply stop all work needed to timely comply with a complex regulation that remains on the books, gambling on the outcome of a process that will last well into 2026 at a minimum,” the Bank Policy Institute, Kentucky Bankers Association, and Forcht Bank (“Plaintiffs”), said in a reply brief filed in the U.S.… Continue Reading

The CFPB recently released its Spring 2025 Regulatory Agenda. In this post, we focus on various residential mortgage-related items included in the Regulatory Agenda. We will address other aspects of the Regulatory Agenda in separate blog posts. To register for our webinar on the Regulatory Agenda, click here. 

An initial observation regarding the Regulatory Agenda in general is that it is very ambitious, with a total of 24 rulemaking items, plus one long term action, yet it is not clear how the CFPB could engage in this level of rulemaking given the significant reduction in force planned at the CFPB that we have reported on extensively, and most recently here and here , and also addressed in a recent podcast.… Continue Reading

The CFPB has released an ambitious Spring Regulatory Agenda that lists 24 regulatory initiatives the bureau has been and/or will be working on during the 12-month period from June 2025 through May 2026 as well as one long term action.

“The CFPB is under interim leadership pending the confirmation of a permanent director, and is carefully considering various sources in setting its future priorities,” the agency said.… Continue Reading

President Trump has signed a bill that would restrict the use of “trigger leads” in the mortgage industry. The legislation will become effective on March 4, 2026.

We previously reported on the passage of the legislation here.

The law amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act to prohibit consumer reporting agencies from furnishing a trigger lead except in limited circumstances. … Continue Reading

A divided federal appeals court has ruled that President Trump illegally fired Lisa Cook from her position as a member of the Federal Reserve Board.

The decision, by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, means that Cook may vote on whether to cut interest rates during a two-day meeting that started today.… Continue Reading

President Trump had the right to fire two Democratic NCUA board members because federal law affords them no protection from being ousted, the administration argued in federal court.

“Because Congress has not enacted any statutory restrictions on the President’s authority to remove NCUA Board Members, they are removable at will,” the administration said in a brief filed in the U.S.… Continue Reading

The OCC has issued two bulletins clarifying how it will handle debanking at its supervised institutions.

One bulletin states that the agency will assess debanking in connection with licensing activities, including, but not limited to, charter applications, charter conversions, applications to exercise fiduciary powers, branch applications and requests for approval of business combinations, and as part of its Community Reinvestment Act reviews.… Continue Reading