Guide
PMI cancellation, termination and the midpointThe Homeowners Protection Act sets three dates: borrower cancellation at 80 percent, automatic termination at 78 percent, and final termination at the midpoint.
Publications
Guides to the exam, bulletins when a rule moves, and case notes on published enforcement decisions.
Guide
RESPA section 8: kickbacks and referral feesRESPA section 8 bars referral fees and unearned fee splits on a federally related mortgage loan. The permitted payments, the disclosure, and treble damages.
Guide
Equal Credit Opportunity Act deadlines30 days to notify of action taken, 25 months to keep the file, 3 business days for the valuations notice. Every ECOA clock with its section.
Guide
Right of rescission: the three business daysThe clock runs to midnight of the third business day after the last of consummation, the notice and the material disclosures. Sundays and holidays are out.
Recent changes to the rules
- 2027-01-01 (upcoming) FHA accepts VantageScore 4.0 and FICO Score 10T alongside Classic FICO for case numbers assigned on or after this date. FHA credit score models from January 1, 2027.
- 2026-07-21 (upcoming) Regulation B amended: ECOA no longer read to carry an effects test, discouragement defined, new conditions on for-profit special purpose credit programs. Regulation B after July 21, 2026.
- 2026-01-07 (upcoming) Asset-size exemptions reset for 2026: HMDA reporting at $59 million, the HPML escrow exemption at $2.785 billion and $12.485 billion. The 2026 Regulation Z thresholds.
- 2026-01-01 (upcoming) Regulation Z thresholds reset for 2026: HOEPA total loan amount $27,592, points and fees $1,380, HPML appraisal exemption $34,200. The 2026 Regulation Z thresholds.
- 2025-05-25 (upcoming) Under Mortgagee Letter 2025-09, non-permanent resident borrowers are no longer eligible for FHA-insured financing for case numbers assigned on or after this date; borrowers with lawful permanent resident status and citizens of the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands or the Republic of Palau may still be eligible.
Bulletins
Records of rule changes that touch the exam, with the date each takes effect.
- FHA adds VantageScore 4.0 and FICO 10T in 2027
FHA INFO 2026-21 set January 1, 2027 for VantageScore 4.0 and FICO Score 10T on FHA-insured loans. The tri-merge credit report requirement stays.
- Regulation B disparate impact rule, July 2026
From July 21, 2026 Regulation B s. 1002.6(a) says ECOA does not provide that the effects test applies. The rule changed Regulation B only.
Guides
Reference pages on how the exam and its rules work.
- RESPA section 8: kickbacks and referral fees
RESPA section 8 bars referral fees and unearned fee splits on a federally related mortgage loan. The permitted payments, the disclosure, and treble damages.
- Equal Credit Opportunity Act deadlines
30 days to notify of action taken, 25 months to keep the file, 3 business days for the valuations notice. Every ECOA clock with its section.
- Right of rescission: the three business days
The clock runs to midnight of the third business day after the last of consummation, the notice and the material disclosures. Sundays and holidays are out.
- What a SAFE MLO test pass does and does not do
A pass clears one of six minimum standards and is good in every state. NMLS licenses nobody: the state agency does, and an unused pass expires after five years.
- Mortgage fraud schemes and SAR filing rules
Non-bank mortgage originators have filed suspicious activity reports since 2012. The $5,000 trigger, the 30 and 60 day deadlines, five year retention.
- Mortgage advertising rules: Regulation N and Z
Regulation N bars 19 kinds of misrepresentation in mortgage ads and keeps records 24 months. Regulation Z s. 1026.24 sets triggering terms and seven bans.
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