The predicted elevation of surface water resulting from a flood that has a 1% chance of occurring in any given year.

Since the beginning of the Trump administration there has been specific uncertainty around the future of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (the “CFPB”), the main federal regulator for mortgages in the United States.  The Department of Government Efficiency (“DOGE”), a nascent governmental department charged with seeking efficiencies across the federal government, has taken steps at the CFPB that have led to some headlines that the bureau may be being “dismantled” or “shut down”.  This has created uncertainty throughout the mortgage industry as to what that might mean.

The Mississippi House of Representatives recently passed House Bill 1154 (HB 1154) which addresses the use of remote online notarization (“RON”) in the state. On February 17, 2025, the bill was advanced to the Senate for consideration.

On February 14, 2025, New York State Governor Kathy Hochul signed Assembly Bill A2056 into law, amending recently enacted flood insurance requirements which were previously discussed here. 

On February 21, 2025, the Federal Housing Administration (“FHA”) published FHA Info 2025-10 to announce a temporary partial regulatory waiver, and related Single Family Housing Policy Handbook 4000.1 waiver to its minimum property standards (“MPS”) requirements regarding drainage and flood hazard.

New York has made significant amendments to its data breach notification laws by requiring businesses to take proactive measures in the event of a data breach incident. 

On February 5, 2025, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (collectively, the “GSEs”) announced updates to their selling guides to expand the permitted use of hybrid appraisals. 

Freddie Mac Bulletin 2025-01 announced that hybrid appraisals will be allowed for Loan Product Advisor submissions on or after April 7, 2025. Lenders will be required to submit the loan in compliance with the Uniform Property Dataset.

Going to the ICE Experience 2025 in Las Vegas, March 10-12? 

Talk with Jennifer Menchaca and Ron Carillo at Kiosk #20 about how to increase efficiency and lower costs through our best in-class document generation platform and award-winning eClose and eVault technologies.

Schedule a meeting.

The Vermont Secretary of State’s Office of Professional Regulation (“OPR”) recently adopted administrative rules for notaries public that are effective on February 26, 2025.

Updated to the most recently published model form version. (Date of Release to Production: 02/20/25)