MBA CREF Policy Update Aug. 18 2022

Bill Killmer bkillmer@mba.org; Mike Flood mflood@mba.org

MBA recently submitted its comment letter to federal regulatory banking agencies on the Community Reinvestment Act.

Last Monday, MISMO® announced the availability of its Commercial Green Borrower Questionnaire for lenders to ask commercial mortgage loan borrowers.

Sign MBA’s Home for All Pledge: Join the 320+ MBA member companies that have signed MBA’s Home for All Pledge, representing a commitment to promoting affordable rental housing; minority homeownership; and company diversity, equity, and inclusion. One senior executive (e.g., CEO, COO, President, Head of Lending, SVP) is encouraged to sign this online form on behalf of your organization. 

MBA Submits Comments in Response to the Banking Agencies CRA Notice of Proposed Rulemaking  

MBA submitted comments in response to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., Federal Reserve Board of Governors and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposing changes to the Community Reinvestment Act.

  • Why it matters: The nearly 700-page NPR is the first joint agency rulemaking proposing regulatory changes to the CRA since 1995. The NPR proposes significant changes to how banks are evaluated for CRA credit, including expanding the number of activities that qualify for CRA credit while also raising standards for banks to achieve this credit. In addition, the NPR establishes a new affordability definition for naturally occurring affordable multifamily housing and expands CRA credit eligibility to allow banks to receive CRA disaster preparedness, recovery, and climate resiliency. 
  • What’s next: MBA will work with regulators and follow developments as the agencies work toward implementation of a final rule.

For more information, please contact Grant Carlson at (202)-557-2765.

MISMO Launches Commercial Green Borrower Questionnaire

MISMO®, the real estate finance industry standards organization, announced availability of its Commercial Green Borrower Questionnaire.

  • Why it matters: This industry resource standardizes questions for commercial lenders to ask borrowers when applying for a commercial mortgage loan. The questionnaire has achieved “Candidate Recommendation” status, which means that it has been thoroughly reviewed by a wide range of organizations and industry participants and is available for use across the industry.
  • MISMO President Seth Appleton said, “MISMO created this questionnaire by collaborating with commercial lending professionals. The information we collected in this questionnaire will benefit the industry by capturing consistent information in a repeatable format for borrowers and lenders to streamline and improve the due diligence process.”

For more information, please contact Seth Appleton at (202) 557-2814.

CFPB to Host Technical Readiness Event for Small Business Lending Data Reporting Rule 

Last Monday the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau announced it would host two events to help prepare the industry for the Bureau’s Small Business Lending Data Collection Rulemaking, which is required under Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act.

  • Why it matters: MBA led industry comments in January 2022 in response to the CFPB’s NPR. Among other comments, the letter urged the CFPB to exempt loans to finance commercial and multifamily investment properties. As proposed, the rule would exempt only 1-4-unit residential investment properties from reporting – but not commercial or multifamily lending.
  • What’s next: Links to the meeting in August can be found here; September here. The CFPB has agreed to implement the 1071 rule by March 31, 2023.

For more information, please contact Grant Carlson at (202)-557-2765.

State Trackers

  • State eviction moratorium and legislative activity tracker available here and here.

For more information, please contact William Kooper at (202) 557-2737 or Grant Carlson at (202) 557-2765.

Upcoming MBA Education Webinars on Critical Industry Issues

MBA Education continues to deliver timely programming that covers the spectrum of challenges, obstacles and solutions pertaining to our industry. Below, please see a list of upcoming webinars – which are complimentary to MBA members:

  • Vertical Sophistication: Meeting the Challenge of Today’s Market – August 23
  • C-PACE Financing 101: A Commercial/Multifamily Lender’s Overview – August 23
  • Risk and Compliance Management: Are You Covered? – August 24
  • CONVERGENCE: What Does it Cost to Produce a Unit of Housing?: Costs & Elements of Production – August 25
  • The Power of Reverse Mortgages for a Changing Market – September 1
  • Climate Risk Management: Data & Analytics – September 7

MBA members can register for any of the above events and view recent webinar recordings. For more information, please contact David Upbin at (202) 557-2931.