HUD stands for the Department of Urban Housing and Development. It is a federal agency whose responsibility is to enforce housing laws and address the housing needs of U.S. citizens.
In the mortgage industry, HUD is involved in:
Supervision of the Federal Housing Administration.
Oversight of the operations of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Direction of the Government National Mortgage Association.
Enforcement of RESPA and fair housing regulations.
HUD is primarily responsible for setting and maintaining the ethics and accountability standards for the housing and mortgage industry to ensure mortgage companies and entities serve borrowers properly and well.
In 1913, President Woodrow Wilson signed the Federal Reserve Act that established the Federal Reserve. it is composed of 12 Federal Reserve Bank thar each serve one pf 12 Federal Reserve Disticts.
The Federal Reserve supervises and regulates memer banks in each of these districts. All nationally-chartered commercial banks are member banks of the Federal Reserve
How the Federal Reserve may regulate member banks:
Federal Reserve District Banks (FRDB) can manipulate its reserve requirements. A reserve requirement is the percentage of the banks overall funds that it must have on deposit with its FRDB. Raising or lowering this reserve requirement increases or limits the amount of money circulating in the economy.
FRDBs can adjust the discount rate. A discount rate is the interest charged to a banks loan. Banks borrow from their Federal Reserve District Bank by pledging commercial paper as collateral. Whenever a bank borrow from the Federal Reserve the apy interest on that loan, i.e.a discount rate. Many banks base their primer rate (the interset they charge on loans for the most trustworthy borrowers) on the discount rate they themselves are paying on a loan from the Federak Reserve. The higher the discount rate, the higher the prime rate, and the higher the rate for all borrowers in general. This results in less credit being available locally. Lower discount rates result in the reverse: more credit being available and a lower rate for individual borrowers.
The Federal Reserve derermines the Federal Reserve Rate. Something the Federal Reserve will loan money to a member bank without any collateral. the interest charged on these types of loans. called short-term or overnight loans, is the Federal Reserve rate. This FR rate is another standard by which banks can measure or set the interest rates they charge their borrowers.
The Federal Reserve can manipulate the supply of money in the economy via its open-market operations. Open-market operations include purchasing and selling government securities in lots. Selling these lots of securities offectively slows down the economy, while purchasing securities adds money to the economy. More money in the economy means more funds and credit are available for home loans and real estate.
Finally, the Federal Reserve is responsible for overseeing and maintaining compliance with the Truth in Lending Act and Title I of the Consumer Protection Act of 1968, throughout the mortgage industry.
FDIC stands for Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. The FDIC directly supervises over half of the banking institutions in the U.S.(about 5,300 banks and saving banks).
State charted banks (those nor nationally-chartered commercial banks) have the option of joining the Federal Reserve Banking System, but it is not required. The FDIC is the primary regulator of these state-chartered banks that do not join the Federal Reserve.
The Federal Home Loan Bank System (FHLB) regulates the nations saving associations, now referred to as thrifts. Like the Federal Reserve, it has 12 Federal Districts.
The Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) oversees and regulates the member banks of the FHLB. The OTS can operate in all 50 states, as opposed to being licensed in each state individually. This means it takes precedence over state laws.
The FHLB and OTS are important in the mortgage industry because thifts play a valuable role in the signal-family residential loan market. They base their lending on the amount of savings they have accumulated
The Occ, or Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is an agency under the Treasury Department. The OCC supervises over 2,500 national banks to ensure compliance with all federal banking regulations. It also supervises the licensed branches of foreign banks. A national bank is any financial institution under the domain on the OCC.
National banks make up about 28% of all commerical banks in the U.S and hold 57% of the total amount of assets in the banking system. The OCC encourages practices and policies that avoid abusive, deceptive, or unfair banking practices
The OTS (Office of Thift Supervision) is the primary regulator of all federally and state-chartered thrifts. The includes certain banks and loan institutions. including savings banks and loan associations. it is financed by the fees and dues paid by the institutions ot regulates, and has 4 regional offices.
Like the Federal Reserve, the U.S Treasury Department bears some of the responsibility for maintaining economic balance in the country. How well this department manages the governments income versus its directly affects how much money is available in the economy and the interest rates on loans.
When the Tresury does not have enough money to keep govermnental agencies running, it must offset these shortages by borrowing meney. The Treasury Dept. borrows money by issuing and selling securities.
Types of Securities:
Theasury Bonds
Debts that are long-term-will be paid off in 10 years or more.
Treasury Notes
Debts of indeterminate length, usually between 2 and 10 years.
Treasury Bills
Short terms debts-those that will be paid off relatively quickly.
The Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve work hand-in-hand to regulate the amount of money in the economy. When the Tresury Department issues securities, money is taken out of the economy. As the repays these securities, more money becomes available.
The Treasury Bond (long-term security) is a common benchmark for setting interest rates on a 30-yr mortgage.