Trump pushes regulatory overhaul to expand housing finance

The White House published an executive order directing federal regulators to review and scale back certain rules to expand access to mortgages and encourage new housing construction.

President Trump directed agencies to begin easing regulatory burdens on mortgage lenders—particularly community banks—and to remove environmental and energy-efficiency requirements affecting residential construction. Regarding lending, the president said community banks have faced disproportionate compliance costs from regulations adopted after the 2010 passage of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

The first part of the executive order states:

“Every American seeking to buy a home should have access to a mortgage from a reliable lender, at a rate commensurate with his or her creditworthiness.  Over the past two decades, however, statutory and regulatory changes — including rules adopted under the Dodd‑Frank Act, Public Law 111-203, and subsequent rulemakings — have increased the compliance costs of mortgage origination and servicing and distorted the structure of the mortgage market.“

Read the full executive order, Promoting Access to Mortgage Credit, here.