Affordable housing

The Trump administration is not backing down even after a federal court blocked guidance that would have limited the operations of national housing funds.

With officials putting finishing touches on presidentially directed reports on the future of the housing finance system, the Senate Banking Committee announced a hearing to examine the issue.

Banks currently can help their CRA performance with mortgages to anyone in a distressed neighborhood, but Joseph Otting said officials crafting a reform plan are considering limiting that to lower-income borrowers.

The head of the Senate Banking Committee invited the housing secretary to Idaho to discuss low-income housing shortages.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development approved a settlement in favor of the California Reinvestment Coalition against CIT Group's OneWest Bank, which Steven Mnuchin ran before he became Treasury secretary.

The ruling deals a blow to efforts by the Department of Housing and Urban Development to restrict nonprofit housing funds from operating on a national scale.

Many oppose a metric-based approach, but there are ways it could actually work.

The central bank has a long history of fighting reforms to the Community Reinvestment Act, until now.

The chamber passed a bill that would clarify how certain loans backed by the Department of Veterans Affairs are securitized, and legislation encouraging first-time homebuyers to participate in counseling programs.

As policymakers mull ways to update the 42-year-old Community Reinvestment Act, economists at the San Francisco Fed have put forth a novel proposal.