WASHINGTON— President Donald Trump signed an executive order Saturday aimed at easing mortgage access and reducing homeownership costs, directing federal regulators to overhaul a range of mortgage lending rules. The White House stated the move is intended to reduce compliance costs, revive community bank participation in home lending, and make mortgages more accessible for creditworthy borrowers.
The order instructs the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to tailor mortgage rules for smaller lenders, modernizing documentation requirements and revising Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) reporting to reduce compliance burdens and address borrower-privacy concerns. It also directs federal banking regulators to shift supervisory expectations toward prudent underwriting, moving away from what the administration characterized as overly technical, process-driven reviews.
The executive order targets broader structural barriers in mortgage finance, calling for consideration of changes to capital and liquidity rules, expanded access to longer-dated Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) advances tied to residential mortgage assets, and the creation of targeted FHLB liquidity programs aimed at entry-level housing, owner-occupied purchase loans, and small residential builders. Regulators are also tasked with modernizing appraisal rules, including broader use of alternative valuation models and fewer appraisal requirements for lower-risk transactions.
the order promotes digital mortgage modernization, advocating for wider use of electronic signatures, e-notes, and remote online notarization. It also asks regulators to consider supervisory changes that would support portfolio mortgage servicing as a core community-banking function. The Administration asserted that the broader goal is to reverse over a decade of regulatory burdens that have diminished competition in the mortgage market, particularly impacting rural, low- and moderate-income, and first-time homebuyer segments.
The Defense Credit Union Council (DCUC) welcomed the Administration’s focus on expanding access to homeownership and reducing unnecessary barriers to responsible mortgage lending, but expressed concern that the executive order appears to prioritize regulatory relief for community banks while overlooking credit unions, including those serving military communities. DCUC President and CEO Anthony Hernandez, in a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, argued that excluding credit unions creates unequal treatment.
“Simply place, the absence of credit unions from this initiative should not be interpreted as a victory for our movement,” Hernandez wrote. “It represents another example of banks receiving preferential treatment in federal regulatory policy.” Hernandez highlighted that credit unions and community banks often serve the same communities and borrowers, yet credit unions face statutory limitations—such as caps on member business lending and field-of-membership restrictions—that banks do not.
Hernandez asked the Treasury Department to clarify why credit unions were not included in the regulatory relief initiative and whether comparable consideration would be given to credit unions as federal agencies implement the Executive Order. He affirmed the willingness of defense credit unions to collaborate with Treasury, federal regulators, and the Administration to advance policies that expand responsible mortgage lending and strengthen access to affordable homeownership for all Americans.
The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) has been contacted for comment regarding the apparent omission of credit unions from the executive order, but has not yet responded.
