The President’s Housing Executive Orders – Which Regulations Might Be Affected?

Housing affordability is on everyone’s mind these days. It is the biggest monthly expense for a lot of people and the supply and demand are not aligned. On March 13, 2026, President Trump released two executive orders aimed at relieving the crunch. In this first half of a two-part series, we will take a closer look at Executive Order (EO) 14393, Promoting Access to Mortgage Credit, which is focused on reducing the compliance costs of mortgage origination and servicing. In a future blog, we will review Executive Order (EO) 14394, Removing Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Home Construction , which addresses the barriers to increasing supply and facilitating new home construction. 

Do These EOs Affect Credit Unions?

EO 14393 focuses on the impact of regulation on community or “small banks” described as those under $100 billion in assets. While the EO does not specifically name credit unions, its directed changes to regulations would affect credit unions the same as small banks. Multiple sections of the EO direct the Chair of the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) to consider taking directed actions, a clear indication that credit unions are grouped under the larger umbrella of “banks”.

EO 14393: Promoting Access to Mortgage Credit

Origination and Ability-to-Repay (ATR) / Qualified Mortgage (QM) Reform

The EO asks the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to  consider:

1) proposing amendments to Regulation Z that tailor the following requirements for smaller banks: ATR and QM requirements (including potentially a broader QM safe harbor for portfolio loans) and the requirements of the Truth in Lending Act, Public Law 90-321 (TILA), Real Estate Settlement Procedure Act, Public Law 93-533 (RESPA), and TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure (TRID) rules; 

2) replacing TRID timing rules with a materiality-based standard that preserves consumer clarity and reduces closing delays; 

3) exempting small-mortgage loans from caps on QM points and fees or, as appropriate, modifying such caps to support affordability; 

4) updating regulations regarding [credit unions’] reasonable compliance with ATR and QM underwriting requirements by removing unnecessarily burdensome elements; 

5) modernizing the right to rescission for mortgage lending, for example, by enabling increased secure electronic and digital forms and processes; 

6) streamlining the requirements applicable to rate-and-term refinancing under Regulation X mortgage servicing rules; and 

7) exempting rate-and-term refinancing (including cash-out refinancing) from rescission rights.

Under the EO, the banking regulators, including the NCUA, were asked to consider revising supervisory guidance to ensure so that: 

1) examiners would evaluate mortgage lending based on the effectiveness of the lender’s policies regarding a consumer’s ability to repay and prudent underwriting, rather than the existing focus on process and technical compliance; and 

2) there is a focus on correcting good faith, technical compliance errors and reserving enforcement actions for borrower harm or repeated misconduct.

Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) Modernization

The EO directs the CFPB to raise the asset threshold for exemption from HMDA data collection and reporting requirements for smaller banks, to exclude inquiries from the scope of HMDA, and to ensure that disclosures protect privacy and reduce burdens, including the use of insufficiently tailored, expensive, and complex software and training needed for reporting financial institutions.

Capital and Liquidity Alignment

The banking regulators, including the NCUA, and the Director of the FHFA are directed to consider 

1) revising capital regulations, consistent with appropriate risk-management requirements, to tailor risk weights for all banks, including community banks and other smaller banks, for portfolio mortgages, servicing rights, and warehouse lines of credit to the material credit risk of the exposure; 

2) modernizing collateral valuation and transfer systems between the Federal Reserve and Federal Home Loan Banks (FHLBs); 

3) expanding access to longer dated FHLB advances tied to residential mortgage assets; 

4) creating targeted FHLB liquidity programs for entry level housing, owner occupied purchase loans, and small residential builders; 

5) accelerating collateral boarding and valuation processes through standardized data and digital documentation; and

6) refocusing the FHLBs’ Affordable Housing Program on faster-cycle execution and greater financial leverage for small-scale and owner-occupied housing projects.

The FHFA and Federal Reserve are directed to authorize FHLBs’ intermediate access to the Federal Reserve’s discount window for FHLBs’ member depository institutions under standardized collateral, operational, and risk-management protocols.

The Director of the FHA has 120 days to submit a report on the efficiency of the national housing market, recommending regulatory or legislative changes necessary to address any regulatory or oversight gaps.

Construction and Housing Supply

The banking regulators, including the NCUA, are directed to consider excluding one-to four-family residential development and construction lending from commercial real estate concentration guidance and to ensure supervisory expectations support responsible construction lending by community banks.

Appraisal Modernization

The banking regulators, including the NCUA, and the Director of the FHFA are directed to consider: 

1) modernizing appraisal regulations and guidance to expand the use of alternative valuation models, desktop and hybrid appraisals, and artificial intelligence valuation tools; 

2) simplifying appraiser qualification requirements; and 

3) reducing appraisal requirements for low-risk transactions, including low loan-to-value refinancing and small balance loans; and setting clear appraisal timelines.

  The HUD and VA Secretaries are directed to consider: 

1) aligning appraisal standards between the Federal Housing Administration and VA Home Loan Program where risk is comparable; 

2) clarifying the distinction in an appraisal inspection between safety and habitability concerns that necessitate pre-closing repairs versus cosmetic concerns; and 

3) expanding post-closing repair flexibility.

Digital Mortgage Modernization

The Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of HUD, the Secretary of VA, and the Director of the FHFA are directed to consider eliminating unnecessary wet signatures, standardizing acceptance of electronic signatures, e-notes, and remote online notarization, and otherwise promoting digital mortgage standards.

Servicing and Supervisory Certainty

The Secretary of HUD and the banking regulators, including the NCUA, are directed to consider: 

1) aligning supervisory expectations to support portfolio mortgage servicing as a core community banking function; extending cure first standards to good faith servicing errors; simplifying loss mitigation requirements; and issuing a proposed rule providing exemptions from complex mortgage services for smaller banks; and 

2) ensuring that supervisory evaluations of performing, prudently underwritten portfolio loans do not focus on technical defects or rely on evolving supervisory interpretations.

Enforcement

The banking regulatory, including the NCUA, are directed to take fewer enforcement actions for violations of consumer financial law that: 

1) discourages imposing civil monetary penalties, except where the underlying violations are willful, knowing, or reckless; 

2) considers good corporate conduct, including a bank’s correction of good-faith, technical compliance errors; and 

3) allows institutions a reasonable opportunity for self-identification and remediation of appropriate compliance matters.

Duplicative or Unnecessary Licensing Requirements

The banking regulators, including the NCUA, are encouraged to eliminate duplicative or unnecessary requirements regarding licensing or registration for mortgage loan officers of any smaller bank.

What do you think of these proposed changes? Are they helpful to credit unions as lenders? Please send comments or questions to [email protected]