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FHA extends foreclosure and eviction moratorium for two more months
On June 17, FHA announced that it will extend its foreclosure and eviction moratorium through August 31, 2020, which applies to homeowners with FHA-insured Title II Single Family forward and Home Equity Conversion (reverse) mortgages, excluding legally vacant or abandoned properties (previously discussed here and here). The announcement also reminds servicers of their obligations under the CARES Act.
FHFA: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will extend foreclosure and eviction moratorium
On June 17, FHFA announced that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will extend their single-family moratorium on foreclosures and evictions until at least August 31, which is currently set to expire on June 30 (previously discussed here). The foreclosure moratorium applies to homeowners with an Enterprise-backed, single-family mortgage.
Federal Reserve Board’s Secondary Market Corporate Credit Facility to purchase corporate bonds
On June 15, the Federal Reserve Board announced that the Secondary Market Corporate Credit Facility (SMCCF) (previously covered here) will begin buying a diversified portfolio of corporate bonds to support market liquidity and the availability of credit for large employers. The intent is to create a bond portfolio that tracks the composition of the broad, diverse universe of secondary market bonds that are eligible for the program. The announcement included a revised term sheet and updated FAQs for the SMCCF.
Federal Reserve Board resumes examinations for all banks
On June 15, the Federal Reserve Board announced the resumption of examination activities for all banks. Back in March, the board scaled back its examination activities in light of Covid-19 (previously covered here). The announcement anticipates that the board will continue to conduct exams offsite until conditions improve.
Waters and Meeks introduce Congressional Review Act resolution to reverse OCC’s CRA rule
On June 11, Chair of the House Financial Services Committee, Maxine Waters (D-CA) and Chair of the Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Financial Institutions, Gregory Meeks (D-NY), introduced a Congressional Review Act resolution to reverse the OCC’s final rule to modernize the regulatory framework implementing the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). The OCC’s final rule (covered by a Buckley Special Alert), while technically effective October 1, provides for at least a 27-month transition period for compliance based on a bank’s size and business model. However, Waters criticized the OCC’s decision to move forward with the rule “despite the Federal Reserve and the FDIC—the other regulatory agencies responsible for enforcing CRA—declining to join in the rulemaking.” Waters argued that the final rule “will result in disinvestment in many low- and moderate-income communities,” with Meeks stating that the OCC’s decision to “put forward a rushed, incomplete rule. . .will harm the very communities the CRA is meant to support.”
HUD works with online search platform to improve FHA compliance
On June 11, HUD announced that it worked with an online search platform to better align the platform’s advertising policies with the requirements of the Fair Housing Act (Act)—specifically, the Act’s prohibition on discriminatory advertising in connection with the sale, rental, or financing of housing, with HUD noting that the prohibition “includes restricting who sees housing-related ads on these bases.” HUD states that the online search platform adopted a policy that prohibits “advertisers from engaging in certain discriminatory practices when placing housing-related ads using [the platform]’s advertising services” and has indicated that it will continue to work with HUD to uphold the principles of the Act in the online and targeted advertising space. The announcement notes that HUD will continue to review online advertising platforms to ensure compliance with the Act.
SBA issues PPP “EZ” loan forgiveness application
On June 16, the Small Business Administration (SBA), in consultation with the U.S. Treasury Department, released the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) EZ Loan Forgiveness Application. According to the PPP Loan Forgiveness Application Form 3508EZ instructions, a borrower may use the streamlined form if it meets one of three criteria: (i) the borrower is self-employed, an independent contractor, or sole proprietor with no employees at the time of application; (ii) the borrower did not reduce salary or wages of any employee by more than 25 percent during the covered period and did not reduce the number of employees or the average paid hours of employees; or (iii) did not reduce salary or wages of any employee by more than 25 percent during the covered period and was unable to operate during the covered period at the same business activity level as prior to February 15, 2020, due to compliance with certain government requirements. Recently, a group of bipartisan senators urged the SBA to streamline the loan forgiveness form arguing that the “11-page forgiveness application” was “beyond the program’s intent” and that it was unnecessarily onerous (covered by InfoBytes here).
Additionally, the SBA released additional revisions to the interim final rule implementing Section 1102 of the CARES Act, which establishes the PPP, to reflect changes made by the PPP Flexibility Act of 2020. InfoBytes coverage regarding the PPP Flexibility Act changes can be found here.
SEC temporarily allows municipalities to sell securities to banks
On June 16, the SEC released a temporary exemptive order, which provides a temporary conditional exemption for registered municipal advisors to sell municipal securities to banks, their wholly-owned subsidiaries engaged in commercial lending and financing activities, and credit unions. Specifically, the order, which is intended to “address disruption in the municipal securities market” due to Covid-19, provides municipal advisors a temporary exemption from broker registration under Section 15 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The order notes that most municipal issuers facing “significant budget shortfalls” do not meet the eligibility criteria for the Federal Reserve Board’s Municipal Liquidity Facility, and therefore, the temporary exemption will help to “facilitate more timely and efficient access to bank financing alternatives by municipal issuers.” The order details the permitted activities allowed under the temporary exemption, along with written representations the municipal advisor must obtain. Additionally, the order restricts the aggregate principal amount of a municipal security to $20 million. The temporary exemption expires on December 31.
CFPB issues CARES Act credit reporting FAQs
On June 16, the CFPB released a set of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) concerning the Bureau’s previously issued policy statement addressing consumer reporting agencies’ (CRAs) and furnishers’ credit reporting responsibilities under the CARES Act amendments to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The policy statement also emphasized that the Bureau is taking a “flexible supervisory and enforcement approach during this pandemic regarding compliance with the [FCRA] and Regulation V,” including refraining from citing in examinations or bringing enforcement action against CRAs or furnishers acting in good faith. (Covered by InfoBytes here.)
Addressed within the FAQs are topics for furnishers to consider when complying with the CARES Act requirements. These include: (i) reporting as current certain accounts for consumers affected by the Covid-19 pandemic; (ii) citing or suing furnishers that violate the FCRA by failing to investigate disputes; (iii) defining an “accommodation” for purposes of the FCRA amendments, and clarifying whether furnishers are required to provide accommodations to impacted consumers, and if so, what their consumer reporting obligations will be; (iv) clarifying that “using a special comment code to report a natural or declared disaster or forbearance” is not a substitute for complying with the CARES Act credit reporting requirements; (v) warning that reporting forbearances on accounts that are not delinquent, or for which a consumer has not requested a forbearance, “increases the risks of inaccurate reporting and consumer confusion”; and (vi) specifying account status reporting requirements after a CARES Act accommodation ends.
Main Street Lending Program opens for lender registration
On June 15, the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston (Boston Fed) announced the opening of lender registration for the Main Street Lending Program. The Main Street Lending Program is administered by the Boston Fed and was established pursuant to the CARES Act to support small and medium-sized businesses (covered by a Buckley Special Alert). Recently, the Federal Reserve expanded the program to extend five-year loans with principal payments deferred for two years and interest payments deferred for one year. Additionally, the Fed (i) lowered the minimum loan size for certain loans to $250,000 from $500,000; and (ii) raised the purchase rate to 95 percent of each eligible loan (covered by InfoBytes here).
According to the announcement, lenders must register for the program using the lender portal. The program will begin purchasing loans soon, and, once purchases begin, all the necessary documents will be submitted through the portal. The Boston Fed encourages lenders to begin making program loans immediately.