(RECAP: The implementation date of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s final mortgage servicing rule lies in question after the Trump administration announced a freeze on federal regulations. After a nearly four-month delay since the CFPB finished the final mortgage servicing rule, the Office of the Federal Register finally published the rule on Oct. 19, meaning it would go into effect one year later on Oct. 19, 2017. While the extra time to adjust to the rule isn’t a terrible thing, Nanci Weissgold, a member of Alston & Bird’s Financial Services & Products Group, said, “Given the operational complexities in implementing these rules, servicers should not delay in understanding the requirements and developing an implementation plot.” There are only two rules currently published but not yet effect in the Federal Register that this freeze applies to. The final mortgage servicing rule is one and the other is the rule on Prepaid Accounts under the Electronic Fund Transfer Act and Truth in Lending Act, published Nov. 22, 2016 and effective Oct. 1, 2017.)

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(RECAP: The Committee On Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs unanimously voted to approve Ben Carson as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on Tuesday morning as his nomination process nears the final leg. From here, Carson’s nomination moves to the Senate floor for consideration. The date is up to Republican leaders and not yet set. Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, chair of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs stated during the sessions that HUD would benefit from having a secretary with a different perspective and a different background.)

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(RECAP: House hunters out this spring will have to pound more and more pavement to find their home sweet home. The number of for-sale listings fell again in December to the lowest level since 1999, according to the National Association of Realtors. There were just 1.65 million homes for sale at the end of December, which at the current sales pace would take only about 3 ½ months to exhaust. A normal, balanced market has about a six-month supply. The shortage is being driven by surging demand and weak home construction. Single-family housing starts continue to rise, but very slowly each month. Builders are still operating at well below normal construction levels, and that doesn’t even account for pent-up demand from the housing crisis and growing household formation. Tight supply is pushing home prices past their peaks in some markets and well past income growth nationally. Mortgage rates were historically low in 2016, helping to offset the higher prices, but that is not the case this year.)

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