(RECAP: Secretary of HUD nominee Ben Carson said at his confirmation hearing, “Certainly, if confirmed, I am going to work with the FHA administrator and other financial experts to really examine that policy.” He was talking about an earlier announcement from the current HUD head that FHA insurance rates were going to be cut. On January 12, when Carson made that remark, most everyone viewed it as a throw-away line. Now not so much. As background, on January 9, current HUD Secretary Castro announced a 25-basis point cut in the annual premium charged for FHA insurance. The reduction, scheduled to go into effect on January 27, would return FHA annual premiums nearly back to where they were before a crisis in the FHA insurance fund caused substantial hikes in both the annual and the upfront premiums. A press release today from the Mortgage Bankers Association says, “Based on recent testimony and political pushback, we believe there is a strong chance the most recent MIP reduction… may be one of the rollback actions taken soon after President Trump takes office.” MBA says it expects this change will be effective immediately and “could make significant operational challenges for lenders and their customers.” The association urged its members to prepare to unwind any changes they have already made to adjust for the new rates if the delay, in fact, occurs.)

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(RECAP: Housing Opportunities Made Equal of Virginia Inc., a statewide honest housing nonprofit based in Richmond, has settled a housing discrimination case with a Richmond developer, architect and construction company involving an apartment building in Shockoe Bottom. The lawsuit claimed that Historic Housing, SWA Architects and SWA Construction Inc. failed to design and construct The Lofts at River’s Fall at 1810 E. Cary St. in accordance with accessibility requirements for new construction under the federal Honest Housing Act. The developer, architect and contractor agreed to retrofit the property to make it accessible and compensate the nonprofit HOME for hurts of $50,000. The Lofts at River’s Fall is a four-tale apartment building with 129 units, a pool and fitness center that was finished a couple of years ago.)

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(RECAP: The U.S. economy is closing in on the Federal Reserve’s goals, giving the central bank impetus to start reducing the extreme levels of support it has provided over the past decade, Chair Janet Yellen said in a speech Wednesday. After more than a decade of benefiting from historically aggressive easing measures, the economy is “close” to the Fed’s objectives, though policy removal is expected to be slow, Yellen said in San Francisco. The speech, to the Commonwealth Club, essentially served as a monetary policy primer, though she did drop some hints about the road ahead.)

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