The latest news from NAMB – 06/26/2026

By on June 26, 2026   /   NTXAMP News  
The latest news from NAMB – 06/26/2026

On the Hill is NAMB’s bi-weekly read on what’s happening in Washington and why it matters to mortgage brokers.

Each issue cuts through the noise to bring you the federal policy, legislation, and regulatory moves shaping your business, along with the context and action items you need to stay ahead.

Brought to you by the National Association of Mortgage Brokers, the voice of the broker community since 1973.

It was a landmark stretch in Washington. Congress cleared the largest housing package in decades, FHA rolled out a batch of cost-cutting changes, the FHFA kept reshaping the GSEs, and rate watchers kept one eye on the Fed. Here’s what brokers need to know.

Lead Story: Congress passes the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act

After nearly a year of negotiation, Congress passed the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act (H.R. 6644), the most sweeping housing package in decades. The Senate approved it 85 to 5 on June 22, and the House followed 358 to 32 on June 23. The bill combines dozens of measures into roughly 50 provisions aimed at boosting housing supply, lowering costs, and shifting more control to the local level. It is the product NAMB and others have tracked since the earlier House and Senate housing bills.

What’s in it for brokers:

  • Small-dollar lending: authorizes a four-year FHA pilot to expand access to mortgages under $100,000, and directs the CFPB to study LO compensation and small-dollar lending, with authority to adjust points-and-fees thresholds to make these loans more workable.
  • Appraisal reform: reforms appraiser licensing and trainee pathways, and requires USDA, VA, FHA, and FHFA lenders to maintain procedures for borrower-requested value reconsiderations or second appraisals. GAO is directed to study a public appraisal database.
  • Manufactured and modular homes: eliminates the permanent chassis requirement for manufactured homes and directs regulators to ensure modular homes do not face steeper financing barriers than site-built homes.
  • Institutional investors: limits large institutional investors to owning no more than 350 single-family homes, with reporting requirements. A Senate provision requiring investors to sell newly built homes within seven years was dropped from the final bill.

One twist: President Trump canceled the planned signing ceremony on June 24, leaving the timing of enactment a live question even with overwhelming bipartisan support. We’ll track where it lands and flag the rulemakings that follow, since much of the broker impact depends on how HUD and the CFPB implement these provisions.

Click here to read more…

At the FHFA…

Fannie Mae expanding its title waiver pilot on refinances

FHFA Director Bill Pulte said on June 23 that Fannie Mae is moving to expand its title acceptance pilot, which lets approved lenders skip a lender’s title insurance policy or attorney opinion letter on certain refinances with loan-to-value ratios under 80%. FHFA frames it as a way to cut closing costs, with federal estimates of $500 to $1,500 in savings per refinance. The same week, a First American study cautioned that pulling lower-risk refinances out of the insured pool could raise premiums for the borrowers who remain, and warned that even refinances are not zero-risk. For brokers, this is a closing-cost and title-workflow story worth watching, and one your title partners will have strong views on.

Click here to read more…

FHFA proposes pushing Fannie and Freddie deeper into manufactured-home lending

On June 24, the FHFA published a proposed revision to the Duty to Serve rule in the Federal Register, calling for Fannie and Freddie to do more in chattel lending, where the home is titled as personal property rather than real estate. The agency notes that roughly 70% to 80% of new manufactured homes are titled as personal property, and is opening the proposal to public comment. The move could expand access to a more affordable housing type, and it reopens a long-running debate about whether the GSEs should operate outside traditional real-estate-secured lending. This is a comment opportunity for NAMB and members who work the manufactured-housing space.

Click here to read more…

At the FHA

FHA rolls out 14 changes to cut costs and red tape

On June 23, HUD announced 14 policy changes to FHA’s Single Family mortgage insurance program aimed at lowering costs and easing regulatory burden, timed to National Homeownership Month. HUD says FHA has now taken more than 150 streamlining actions since the start of the administration. The updates span origination through servicing and quality control. Highlights brokers will notice:

  • Appraisal field reviews: streamlines QC field review requirements that average $425 each, a change HUD estimates will save industry partners about $3.3 million a year while better aligning FHA with other programs.
  • 203(k) rehab loans: expands flexibility under the Limited 203(k) Rehabilitation program by increasing the number of contractor draw requests, making rehab projects easier to complete.
  • Mortgagee approval and QC: permanently exempts early payment defaults caused by natural disasters from the required QC review sample, which HUD says will help smaller lenders participate in the FHA program.
  • Closing paperwork: eliminates the duplicative requirement to use the Important Notice to Homebuyers Form 92900-B, simplifying the closing process.
  • Loss mitigation: clarifies the rules governing trial payment plans to protect the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund and guard against abuse, while aiming not to penalize proactive borrowers.

Watch for the corresponding Mortgagee Letters and Single Family Handbook updates, which will carry the operative effective dates for your pipeline.

Click here to read more…

At the CFPB

The leadership clock, and the rules brokers are watching

The CFPB has been without a Senate-confirmed director since Rohit Chopra’s departure, and most administrative-law experts believe acting director Russell Vought cannot stay in the role past August 1. President Trump’s nominee for the permanent post, Brian Johnson, is viewed by industry observers as a serious pick who could actually move pending rulemakings. For brokers, the two revisions worth watching most closely are loan originator compensation (LO comp) and RESPA servicing, both of which NAMB and others have pushed to modernize for years. The open question is whether a confirmed director is in place in time to advance them.

Click here to read more…

By the Numbers

  • 30-year fixed: 6.47% (Freddie Mac PMMS, week ending June 18), down from 6.52% the prior week and 6.81% a year ago. A new weekly reading is due June 25.
  • 15-year fixed: 5.81% (Freddie Mac, June 18).
  • Daily pricing held near 6.50% on the 30-year through June 24 (Optimal Blue), with rates little changed after a more hawkish tone from the Fed at its June meeting.

What to Watch

  • Whether and when the ROAD to Housing Act is signed into law, and the HUD and CFPB rulemakings that will determine its real-world impact on brokers.
  • The FHFA Duty to Serve comment period on manufactured-home chattel lending.
  • The August 1 CFPB leadership deadline and any movement on LO comp and RESPA servicing.
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Protecting Condominium Access for American Homebuyers

By on June 16, 2026   /   NTXAMP News  
Protecting Condominium Access for American Homebuyers

See the original post from NAMB here

NAMB Calls on FHFA to Delay Sweeping Condo Lending Changes

The clock is running on the biggest shift in condo financing in years. Under Fannie Mae Lender Letter LL-2026-03 and Freddie Mac Bulletin 2026-C, Limited Review disappears on August 3, 2026, every condo transaction moves to Full Review, and reserve funding requirements climb from 10 percent to 15 percent by January 4, 2027.

These changes will push sound, established projects into non-warrantable status, stretch closing timelines, and raise costs for the first-time and moderate-income buyers who depend on condos most. A 2025 Community Associations Institute survey found that 42 percent of communities were unsure whether they even qualified for federally backed financing, and among those already deemed ineligible, 64 percent said it hurt home sales or property values. The new standards will deepen that problem if the market is not given time to adjust.

That is why NAMB has sent a formal letter to FHFA Director William Pulte requesting at least a twelve-month delay, a preserved streamlined review pathway, a single consolidated compliance date, and a stakeholder feedback channel. We are not asking that the safety goals be abandoned. We are asking for a realistic transition that protects borrowers and communities instead of disrupting them.

NAMB White Paper: The Case for Pausing Fannie Mae Lender Letter LL-2026-03

Fannie Mae’s Lender Letter LL-2026-03 contains two provisions that, if implemented on their current timeline, will shut first-time buyers out of the condominium market — the last affordable homeownership entry point in most American metros.

NAMB supports the market-expanding provisions of LL-2026-03 and urges their prompt implementation. But we are calling for an immediate pause on two specific changes: the retirement of the Limited Review process for established condominium projects (effective August 3, 2026) and the increase of the minimum HOA reserve funding requirement from 10% to 15% of the annual budget (effective January 4, 2027).

FHFA claims fewer than 10,000 associations would struggle with the new threshold and that monthly dues increases would range from $15 to $30 per unit. Independent, verifiable data tells a different story. Analysis of more than 100,000 reserve studies shows that 62-74% of associations are already underfunded. Real-world compliance costs documented in active markets range from $42 to $750 per unit per month — with individual special assessments reaching $1.35 million per unit in the most severe cases.

NAMB created a state-by-state analysis of nine major condo markets to document what FHFA’s projections fail to account for: the legal barriers, structural compliance gaps, and market realities that make the current implementation timeline functionally impossible for a material share of American condo associations.

Florida

Florida is home to approximately one-fifth of all condominium units in the United States — and it is the only large state that has already implemented mandatory reserve requirements, giving us a documented record of what rapid reserve compliance actually costs. Association Reserves data shows Florida has 50% more weakly funded associations than any other state. Condo prices are already down 10.8%, 40% of owners have faced special assessments in the past three years, and more than 1,400 associations are already on Fannie Mae’s unavailable project list. Florida’s state law and LL-2026-03 are directly incompatible in several key areas — including a SIRS compliance deadline that leaves zero transition time before the January 4, 2027 reserve threshold takes effect.

Nevada

Nevada leads the nation with 65%+ of all residential listings located within HOA communities — making the stakes here unusually high. Nevada’s own Commission for Common-Interest Communities has publicly stated that associations are not properly funding reserves, yet the state operates on a five-year study cycle versus Fannie Mae’s three-year lookback requirement, creating built-in non-warrantability for fully state-law-compliant associations. Condo inventory has surged 77% and sales are down 15.4% year over year, with documented associations funded as low as 42%.

Colorado

Colorado only implemented its reserve study mandate in January 2025 — less than 18 months before LL-2026-03’s effective dates. Many associations are executing their first professional reserve study right now, in the same compliance window the federal requirement creates. Insurance premiums doubled between June 2022 and June 2023, with individual spikes documented as high as 572% in a single year. Governor Polis has already issued a formal Roadmap to Reduce Homeowners Insurance in response to the crisis. Condo prices are projected to fall 10-15%, and many governing documents contain assessment increase caps of just 2-5%. 

California

California’s 51,250+ community associations face a three-way standards conflict: state law caps regular assessment increases at 20% without a member vote and special assessments at 5% — limits that make rapid reserve compliance legally impossible for many underfunded associations without owner approval they may not be able to obtain. Meanwhile, a 2021 reserve study analysis found that 99.85% of California condo associations already needed more than 10% of budget for reserves, meaning FHFA’s proposed floor doesn’t solve the problem — it barely describes it. Add a wildfire-driven insurance crisis affecting 90%+ of associations and simultaneous SB 326 balcony inspection obligations, and the administrative capacity simply isn’t there.

New York

New York has no statewide reserve study mandate and no minimum funding requirement — and co-op governing documents require shareholder votes for major capital expenditures, creating a governance layer that cannot move on FHFA’s timeline. Median HOA fees already exceed $500 per month, among the nation’s highest. Local Law 97 carbon compliance is simultaneously competing for the same dollars and governance bandwidth, with potential fines of $268 per ton of excess emissions. A documented special assessment in a 37-year-old, 100-unit-equivalent building reached $77,000 per unit.

Ohio

Ohio law expressly permits condominium associations to vote annually to waive reserve requirements entirely — a legal mechanism that has produced a documented history of chronic underfunding. Amending governing documents to override this requires a 75% supermajority under ORC 5312.05, a threshold that cannot be reached within the compliance window for most communities. There is no state reserve study mandate, no minimum funding level, and an appellate court conflict over what “adequate” even means. Documented cases include a $27,000 roofing special assessment imposed five months after purchase on a $170,000 condo unit.

South Carolina

South Carolina has no reserve study mandate, no minimum funding requirement, and governing documents that require only 48 hours notice for budget meetings — a framework that creates virtually no foundation for rapid GSE compliance. The state’s 200+ coastal high-rises, many over 30 years old, represent some of the most structurally at-risk and financially underprepared inventory in the country. The Dockside Condominiums in Charleston were evacuated in February 2025 with an estimated $151 million in required repairs — approximately $1.35 million per unit. Seascape Villas on Isle of Palms has documented special assessments exceeding $300,000 per unit. South Carolina’s own pending legislation proposes a 10-year phase-in — nine times longer than FHFA’s current window.

Texas

Texas has no reserve study mandate, no minimum funding requirement, and no existing compliance infrastructure — meaning approximately 23,000 associations would be entering the professional reserve services market for the first time, simultaneously, competing for a finite supply of qualified specialists. With a single annual budget cycle remaining before the January 4, 2027 deadline, most Texas associations cannot realistically complete the required sequence — commission a study, receive results, revise the budget, notify members, hold required votes — in time through no fault of their own. There is no state framework and no statutory workaround.

Utah

Utah requires reserve studies on a five to six year cycle — but Fannie Mae’s lookback requirement is three years, meaning fully state-law-compliant associations will be structurally non-warrantable under LL-2026-03 through no deficiency of their own. Condo prices in Salt Lake City are already down 4.2% and sales are down 22.4% year over year. With 80% of new construction in Utah governed by HOAs and a state initiative targeting 35,000 starter condos by 2028, the timing of this federal requirement directly conflicts with Utah’s own housing affordability strategy.

The Data by State

Select one of the states below to see how LL-2026-03’s provisions would impact the market.

Why These Nine States?

NAMB’s state-by-state research demonstrates that FHFA’s impact projections fail to account for legal frameworks, existing market conditions, and structural compliance barriers that vary dramatically across the country. The nine states examined here were selected to represent the broadest range of condo market profiles, reserve law environments, and compliance challenges found across the United States.

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DPA, DSCR Processing, Buy Before you Sell Products; FDM/AHM Partnership; LOs & MISMO

By on December 3, 2025   /   NTXAMP News  

Both Dick Van Dyke and Mel Brooks turn 100, Dick in less than two weeks and Mel next summer. 100 years is a long time, and it’s a big number. Despite faster economic growth than peers, the U.S. faces rising deficits and debt levels above 100 percent of GDP. If this impacts our debt ratings further, look out. Political gridlock and reluctance to enact meaningful tax increases or spending cuts echo challenges seen in the UK and France, where governments struggle to satisfy voters, lenders, and economic needs simultaneously. Recent market jitters, such as the spike in Treasury yields in April, serve as warnings of potential debt-market instability if political inaction persists. For something more constructive to think about for lenders, today Marcia Davies, COO of the Mortgage Bankers Association, joins L1 for one of her last interviews before retirement, and tomorrow’s The Big Picture at 3PM ET features Mike Yu, CEO of Vesta, for a fast, insightful conversation on the future of loan origination systems and what it means to rebuild the LOS from the ground up. Mike shares the Vesta origin story, why legacy systems have reached their limits, and how a true platform approach built on open architecture and modern APIs is reshaping how lenders design their tech stacks. (Today’s podcast can be found here and this week’s are sponsored by Two Dots, whose conversational screening agent replaces manual underwriting with a streamlined, end-to-end process that reduces risk and fraud while securing safer borrowers, increasing profitable loan volume, and lowering underwriting overhead. Today’s has an interview with U.S. Bank’s Shelly Kobb and Ohio Housing’s Tom Walker on how Housing Finance Agencies work, the challenges they face in expanding affordable homeownership, the policy and political developments shaping their future, and the innovations and outreach strategies needed to keep their programs sustainable, effective, and accessible.)
Source: Mortgage News Daily

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Stronger Start, Mostly Before ADP Data

By on December 3, 2025   /   NTXAMP News  

10yr yields are almost 4bps lower in early trading and the ADP employment report came in at -32k vs a +10k forecast. The logical conclusion would be that the data is responsible for the rally, but there was actually a remarkably light reaction to the data, both in terms of volume and volatility.  Most of the gains arrived between 6am and 7:30am ET and yields are actually back in line with pre-ADP levels by 8:30am.  The morning’s next big report is ISM Services at 10am ET.
Source: Mortgage News Daily

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Steady Gains Throughout The Day

By on December 2, 2025   /   NTXAMP News  

Steady Gains Throughout The Day

Bonds began the day in modestly weaker territory although MBS were fairly quick to get back to ‘unchanged’ while 10yr Treasuries couldn’t duplicate that feat until the afternoon. There were no clear correlations with other markets and no notable risks on the econ calendar. The gains were slow and steady enough to suggest an absence of discrete catalysts. That could change on Wednesday with the confluence of ADP and ISM Services–both capable of influencing the bond market, even before the shutdown data dynamics temporarily magnified private data’s importance.

Econ Data / Events

ISM Manufacturing Employment (Nov)

44.0 vs — f’cast, 46.0 prev

ISM Manufacturing PMI (Nov)

48.2 vs 48.6 f’cast, 48.7 prev

ISM Mfg Prices Paid (Nov)

58.5 vs 59.5 f’cast, 58.0 prev

Market Movement Recap

10:38 AM Weaker start, but bouncing back a bit now.  MBS up 2 ticks (.06) and 10yr yield up 1bp at 4.098

01:13 PM Best levels of the day with MBS up 3 ticks (.09) and 10yr up only half a bp at 4.092

03:43 PM Just a bit stronger. MBS up 5 ticks (.16) and 10yr down 0.1bps at 4.087
Source: Mortgage News Daily

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Mortgage Rates Move Slightly Lower

By on December 2, 2025   /   NTXAMP News  

Unlike Monday, which saw a fairly brisk move toward higher rates, Tuesday barely budged. Additionally, the budging occurred in a friendly direction with the average lender offering rates that were just a hair lower than yesterday’s.  Starting tomorrow morning, this week’s potential volatility will be higher. Each day brings several economic reports  with the power to push rates higher or lower. Wednesday/tomorrow is probably chief among these due to the ADP employment report and a closely watched service sector report from ISM. 
Source: Mortgage News Daily

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Jumbo, Processing, AI, 2nd Products; Current State of M&A and Partnerships

By on December 2, 2025   /   NTXAMP News  

I don’t know about you, but a hot shower or bath always sounds good. Tech wizards, however, have created a human washing machine. I’ll pass. At this point it would be impossible to do a home loan without “technology,” and AI is all the rage. For those trying to figure out how to think about AI, or even where to start, this month’s STRATMOR piece is titled, “Artificial Intelligence in Mortgage Lending.” Should an AI loan officer be licensed? In artificial intelligence, “agentic” AI focuses on “autonomous systems that can make decisions and perform tasks with limited or no human intervention. The independent systems automatically respond to conditions to produce process results… “agents” where machine learning models that mimic human decision-making to solve problems in real time.” If a lender has a robot answering questions about programs and terms, how will regulators view that? (Today’s podcast can be found here and this week’s are sponsored by Two Dots, whose conversational screening agent replaces manual underwriting with a streamlined, end-to-end process that reduces risk and fraud while securing safer borrowers, increasing profitable loan volume, and lowering underwriting overhead. Today’s has an interview with Finastra’s MaryKay Theriault on where AI can truly strengthen trust, personalization, and underwriting efficiency without over-automation, and how the evolving intersection of tech adoption, credit policy, and market structure should shape lenders’ preparation for the next lending cycle.)
Source: Mortgage News Daily

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MBS Outperforming Longer-Term Treasuries

By on December 2, 2025   /   NTXAMP News  

The early days of a new trading month and the positioning ahead of next week’s Fed announcement have resulted in clear curve trading biases.  In English, this means that shorter-term Treasuries are doing much better than longer-term Treasuries.  For example, 2yr yields are down 2.4bps while 10yr yields are up 1.1bps. This dynamic is usually good for MBS because the average implied duration for MBS is closer to 5 years than 10 these days. The result: MBS and 5 year Treasuries are both slightly stronger on the day while 10s are still slightly weaker. 
Source: Mortgage News Daily

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Complete Silence After AM Volatility

By on December 1, 2025   /   NTXAMP News  

Complete Silence After AM Volatility

Bonds were mostly flat overnight before a sharp sell-off from 8am through 10am ET. After that, momentum went flat again–especially the last 4 hours of trading.  No one is still debating whether or not the AM sell-off was due to Japan’s central bank news or a post-holiday return to reality. Yields are back in the pre-Thanksgiving range and ready to respond to this week’s bigger-ticket econ reports.

Econ Data / Events

ISM Manufacturing Employment (Nov)

44.0 vs — f’cast, 46.0 prev

ISM Manufacturing PMI (Nov)

48.2 vs 48.6 f’cast, 48.7 prev

ISM Mfg Prices Paid (Nov)

58.5 vs 59.5 f’cast, 58.0 prev

Market Movement Recap

09:27 AM Mostly flat overnight but selling steadily since 8am.  MBS down a quarter point and 10yr up 6.9bps at 4.084

11:09 AM No reaction to ISM data.  Holding at weakest levels.  MBS down 9 ticks (.28) and 10yr up 7.6bps at 4.09

02:34 PM Steady at weakest levels. MBS still down 9 ticks (.28) and 10yr up 7.9bps at 4.093
Source: Mortgage News Daily

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Mortgage Rates Erase Last Week's Gains

By on December 1, 2025   /   NTXAMP News  

Mortgage rates are based on bonds and the bond market is prone to erratic behavior on major holiday weeks. One of the more common patterns is for the holiday week to see a noticeable departure from a prevailing trend only to return to that trend in the following week.  That’s exactly what we’re seeing on the first day of the new week. The prevailing trend saw rates hold a narrow, sideways range with the average top tier 30yr fixed rate in the 6.3s.  Last week saw that average drop to 6.20% and now today, we’re right back up to 6.31%. [thirtyyearmortgagerates] In the coming days, economic data should have a bigger impact on rates than the sort serendipity at work today.
Source: Mortgage News Daily

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