12 USC 4542 - Housing Price Index

Collapse to view only § 4542. Housing Price Index

§ 4541. Prior approval authority for products
§ 4542. Housing Price Index
§ 4543. Public access to mortgage information
§ 4544. Annual housing report
§ 4545. Fair housing
§ 4546. Prohibition of public disclosure of proprietary information
§ 4547. Enterprise guarantee fees
§ 4548. Regulations for use of credit scores

§ 4541. Prior approval authority for products

(a) In general

(b) Standard for approvalIn considering any request for approval of a product pursuant to subsection (a), the Director shall make a determination that—

(1) in the case of a product of the Federal National Mortgage Association, the product is authorized under paragraph (2), (3), (4), or (5) of section 1717(b) or section 1719 of this title;

(2) in the case of a product of the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, the product is authorized under paragraph (1), (4), or (5) of section 1454(a) of this title;

(3) the product is in the public interest; and

(4) the product is consistent with the safety and soundness of the enterprise or the mortgage finance system.

(1) Submission of request

(2) Request for public comment

(3) Public comment period

(4) Offering of product

(A) In general

(B) Failure to act

(d) Conditional approval

(e) Exclusions

(1) In generalThe requirements of subsections (a) through (d) do not apply with respect to—

(A) the automated loan underwriting system of an enterprise in existence as of July 30, 2008, including any upgrade to the technology, operating system, or software to operate the underwriting system;

(B) any modification to the mortgage terms and conditions or mortgage underwriting criteria relating to the mortgages that are purchased or guaranteed by an enterprise, provided that such modifications do not alter the underlying transaction so as to include services or financing, other than residential mortgage financing; or

(i) the activities described in subparagraphs (A) and (B); and

(ii) other activities that have been approved by the Director in accordance with this section.

(2) Expedited review

(A) Enterprise notice

(B) Director determination

(f) No limitationNothing in this section may be construed to restrict—

(1) the safety and soundness authority of the Director over all new and existing products or activities; or

(2) the authority of the Director to review all new and existing products or activities to determine that such products or activities are consistent with the statutory mission of an enterprise.

(Pub. L. 102–550, title XIII, § 1321, as added Pub. L. 110–289, div. A, title I, § 1123, July 30, 2008, 122 Stat. 2689.)

§ 4542. Housing Price Index

The Director shall establish and maintain a method of assessing the national average 1-family house price for use for adjusting the conforming loan limitations of the enterprises. In establishing such method, the Director shall take into consideration the monthly survey of all major lenders conducted by the Federal Housing Finance Agency to determine the national average 1-family house price, the House Price Index maintained by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight of the Department of Housing and Urban Development before the effective date of the Federal Housing Finance Regulatory Reform Act of 2008, any appropriate house price indexes of the Bureau of the Census of the Department of Commerce, and any other indexes or measures that the Director considers appropriate.

(Pub. L. 102–550, title XIII, § 1322, as added Pub. L. 110–289, div. A, title I, § 1124(d), July 30, 2008, 122 Stat. 2693.)

§ 4543. Public access to mortgage information

(a)

(1) In general

(2) Census tract level reporting

(b) Access

(1) Proprietary data

(2) Exception

(d) Timing

(Pub. L. 102–550, title XIII, § 1323, Oct. 28, 1992, 106 Stat. 3954; Pub. L. 110–289, div. A, title I, §§ 1122(a)(1), 1126, July 30, 2008, 122 Stat. 2689, 2695.)

§ 4544. Annual housing report

(a) In general

(b) ContentsThe report required under subsection (a) shall—

(1) discuss—

(A) the extent to and manner in which—

(i) each enterprise is achieving the annual housing goals established under subpart 2;

(ii) each enterprise is complying with its duty to serve underserved markets, as established under section 4565 of this title;

(iii) each enterprise is complying with section 4567 of this title;

(iv) each enterprise received credit towards achieving each of its goals resulting from a transaction or activity pursuant to section 4561(b)(2) of this title; and

(v) each enterprise is achieving the purposes of the enterprise established by law; and

(B) the actions that each enterprise could undertake to promote and expand the purposes of the enterprise;

(2) aggregate and analyze relevant data on income to assess the compliance of each enterprise with the housing goals established under subpart 2;

(3) aggregate and analyze data on income, race, and gender by census tract and other relevant classifications, and compare such data with larger demographic, housing, and economic trends;

(4) identify the extent to which each enterprise is involved in mortgage purchases and secondary market activities involving subprime and nontraditional loans;

(5) compare the characteristics of subprime and nontraditional loans both purchased and securitized by each enterprise to other loans purchased and securitized by each enterprise; and

(6) compare the characteristics of high-cost loans purchased and securitized, where such securities are not held on portfolio to loans purchased and securitized, where such securities are either retained on portfolio or repurchased by the enterprise, including such characteristics as—

(A) the purchase price of the property that secures the mortgage;

(B) the loan-to-value ratio of the mortgage, which shall reflect any secondary liens on the relevant property;

(D) the creditworthiness of the borrower; and

(E) any other relevant data, as determined by the Director.

(1) In general

(2) Data pointsEach monthly survey conducted by the Director under paragraph (1) shall collect data on—

(A) the characteristics of individual mortgages that are eligible for purchase by the enterprises and the characteristics of individual mortgages that are not eligible for purchase by the enterprises including, in both cases, information concerning—

(i) the price of the house that secures the mortgage;

(ii) the loan-to-value ratio of the mortgage, which shall reflect any secondary liens on the relevant property;

(iii) the terms of the mortgage;

(iv) the creditworthiness of the borrower or borrowers; and

(v) whether the mortgage, in the case of a conforming mortgage, was purchased by an enterprise;

(B) the characteristics of individual subprime and nontraditional mortgages that are eligible for purchase by the enterprises and the characteristics of borrowers under such mortgages, including the creditworthiness of such borrowers and determination whether such borrowers would qualify for prime lending; and

(3) Public availabilityThe Director shall make any data collected by the Director in connection with the conduct of a monthly survey available to the public in a timely manner, provided that the Director may modify the data released to the public to ensure that the data—

(A) is not released in an identifiable form; and

(B) is not otherwise obtainable from other publicly available data sets.

(4) Definition

(Pub. L. 102–550, title XIII, § 1324, as added Pub. L. 110–289, div. A, title I, § 1125(b), July 30, 2008, 122 Stat. 2693.)

§ 4545. Fair housing

The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall—

(1) by regulation, prohibit each enterprise from discriminating in any manner in the purchase of any mortgage because of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, age, or national origin, including any consideration of the age or location of the dwelling or the age of the neighborhood or census tract where the dwelling is located in a manner that has a discriminatory effect;

(2) by regulation, require each enterprise to submit data to the Secretary to assist the Secretary in investigating whether a mortgage lender with which the enterprise does business has failed to comply with the Fair Housing Act [42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.];

(3) by regulation, require each enterprise to submit data to the Secretary to assist in investigating whether a mortgage lender with which the enterprise does business has failed to comply with the Equal Credit Opportunity Act [15 U.S.C. 1691 et seq.], and shall submit any such information received to the appropriate Federal agencies, as provided in section 704 of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act [15 U.S.C. 1691c], for appropriate action;

(4) obtain information from other regulatory and enforcement agencies of the Federal Government and State and local governments regarding violations by lenders of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and make such information available to the enterprises;

(5) direct the enterprises to undertake various remedial actions, including suspension, probation, reprimand, or settlement, against lenders that have been found to have engaged in discriminatory lending practices in violation of the Fair Housing Act or the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, pursuant to a final adjudication on the record, and after opportunity for an administrative hearing, in accordance with subchapter II of chapter 5 of title 5; and

(6) periodically review and comment on the underwriting and appraisal guidelines of each enterprise to ensure that such guidelines are consistent with the Fair Housing Act and this section.

(Pub. L. 102–550, title XIII, § 1325, Oct. 28, 1992, 106 Stat. 3955; Pub. L. 110–289, div. A, title I, § 1122(b), July 30, 2008, 122 Stat. 2689.)

§ 4546. Prohibition of public disclosure of proprietary information

(a) In general

(b) Protection of information on housing activities

(d) Mortgage information

Subject to privacy considerations, as described in section 304(j) of the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act of 1975 (12 U.S.C. 2803(j)), the Director shall, by regulation or order, provide that certain information relating to single family mortgage data of the enterprises shall be disclosed to the public, in order to make available to the public—

(1) the same data from the enterprises that is required of insured depository institutions under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act of 1975 [12 U.S.C. 2801 et seq.]; and

(2) information collected by the Director under section 4544(b)(6) of this title.

(Pub. L. 102–550, title XIII, § 1326, Oct. 28, 1992, 106 Stat. 3955; Pub. L. 110–289, div. A, title I, §§ 1122(a)(1), 1127, July 30, 2008, 122 Stat. 2689, 2695.)

§ 4547. Enterprise guarantee fees

(a) DefinitionsFor purposes of this section, the following definitions shall apply:

(1) Guarantee feeThe term “guarantee fee”—

(A) means a fee described in subsection (b); and

(B) includes—

(i) the guaranty fee charged by the Federal National Mortgage Association with respect to mortgage-backed securities; and

(ii) the management and guarantee fee charged by the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation with respect to participation certificates.

(2) Average fees

(b) Increase

(1) In general

(A) Phased increase required

(B) Amount

(2) Authority to limit offer of guaranteeThe Director shall prohibit an enterprise from consummating any offer for a guarantee to a lender for mortgage-backed securities, if—

(A) the guarantee is inconsistent with the requirements of this section; or

(B) the risk of loss is allowed to increase, through lowering of the underwriting standards or other means, for the primary purpose of meeting the requirements of this section.

(3) Deposit in Treasury

(1) In generalThe Director may provide for compliance with subsection (b) by allowing each enterprise to increase the guarantee fee charged by the enterprise gradually over the 2-year period beginning on December 23, 2011, in a manner sufficient to comply with this section. In determining a schedule for such increases, the Director shall—

(A) provide for uniform pricing among lenders;

(B) provide for adjustments in pricing based on risk levels; and

(2) Rule of construction

(d) Information collection and annual analysisThe Director shall require each enterprise to provide to the Director, as part of its annual report submitted to Congress—

(1) a description of—

(A) changes made to up-front fees and annual fees as part of the guarantee fees negotiated with lenders;

(B) changes to the riskiness of the new borrowers compared to previous origination years or book years; and

(C) any adjustments required to improve for future origination years or book years, in order to be in complete compliance with subsection (b); and

(2) an assessment of how the changes in the guarantee fees described in paragraph (1) met the requirements of subsection (b).

(e) Enforcement

(1) Required adjustments

(2) Noncompliance penalty

(3) Rule of construction

(f) Expiration

(Pub. L. 102–550, title XIII, § 1327, as added Pub. L. 112–78, title IV, § 401, Dec. 23, 2011, 125 Stat. 1287; Pub. L. 117–58, div. I, § 90005, Nov. 15, 2021, 135 Stat. 1346.)

§ 4548. Regulations for use of credit scores

The Director shall—

(1) by regulation, establish standards and criteria for any process used by an enterprise to validate and approve credit scoring models pursuant to section 1717(b)(7) of this title and section 1454(d) of this title; and

(2) ensure that any credit scoring model that is validated and approved by an enterprise under section 1717(b)(7) of this title or section 1454(d) of this title meets the requirements of clauses (i), (ii), and (iii) of section 1717(b)(7)(C) of this title and subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C) of section 1454(d) of this title, respectively.

(Pub. L. 102–550, title XIII, § 1328, as added Pub. L. 115–174, title III, § 310(c), May 24, 2018, 132 Stat. 1355.)