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HUD and the Census Bureau have released the January 2016 new residential sales report. Sales of new single-family houses in January 2016 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 494,000; 9.2 percent below the revised December rate of 544,000 and 5.2 percent below the January 2015 estimate of 521,000. The median sales price of new houses sold in January 2016 was $278,800; the average sales price was $365,700. The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of January was 238,000. This represents a supply of 5.8 months at the current sales rate.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency has published [81 FR 9196] a Notice in the Federal Register that it has adjusted the cap on average total assets that defines a “Community Financial Institution” to $1,128,000,000, based on the annual percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers (CPI-U) as published by the Department of Labor (DOL). These changes took effect on January 1, 2016.

The Federal Home Loan Bank Act confers upon insured depository institutions that meet the statutory definition of a “Community Financial Institution” (CFI) certain advantages over non-CFI insured depository institutions in qualifying for Federal Home Loan Bank membership, and in the purposes for which they may receive long-term advances and the collateral they may pledge to secure advances

The Federal Reserve Board has released the minutes of its January 25, 2016, discount rate meeting. The Governors recommended that the current primary credit rate be maintained.

CFPB Director Richard Cordray spoke at the Credit Union National Association meeting yesterday, offering congratulations to the CU industry for its pro-consumer efforts. He also spoke at length on the Bureau's efforts to implement consumer protection legislation and proactively pursue regulatory changes to further protect consumers. During the presentation, Cordray said that the Bureau is finalizing a rule that would ensure prepaid accounts have error correction and dispute resolution rights, and developing a rulemaking proposal for small-dollar loans that would include ability-to-repay requirements and other protections.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced yesterday that it has taken two separate actions against Citibank for illegal debt sales and debt collection practices. In the first action, the CFPB ordered Citibank to provide nearly $5 million in consumer relief and pay a $3 million penalty for selling credit card debt with inflated interest rates and for failing to forward consumer payments promptly to debt buyers. The second action is against both Citibank and two New Jersey debt collection law firms it used that falsified court documents filed in debt collection cases in that state's courts. The CFPB ordered Citibank and the law firms to comply with a court order that Citibank refund $11 million to consumers and forgo collecting about $34 million from about 7,000 consumers. For details, see our February 23, 2016 Penalty Page entry.

The OCC will host two workshops in Santa Ana at the DoubleTree Santa Ana-Orange County Airport on March 22-23, for directors of national community banks and federal savings associations supervised by the OCC. The Credit Risk workshop on March 22 focuses on credit risk within the loan portfolio, such as identifying trends and recognizing problems. The workshop also covers the roles of the board and management, how to stay informed of changes in credit risk, and how to effect change. The Compliance Risk workshop on March 23 combines lectures, discussion, and exercises on the critical elements of an effective compliance risk management program. The workshop also focuses on major compliance risks and critical regulations. Topics of discussion include the Bank Secrecy Act, Community Reinvestment Act, and the Truth-in-Lending (TILA) and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 (RESPA) Integrated Disclosures Rule, also known as TRID.

HUD has announced it is making $40 million in grants available to support hundreds of housing counseling organizations across the country that assist families, including those buying their first home, struggling to locate affordable rental housing or seeking to avoid foreclosure. The funding is offered to directly support the housing counseling services provided by national and regional organizations, multi-state organizations, State Housing Finance Agencies (SHFAs) and more than 200 local housing counseling agencies that assist low- and moderate-income families improve their housing conditions. Grant winners use the money to help homebuyers evaluate if they are ready to buy a house, understand their financing and down payment options, and navigate what can be an extremely confusing and difficult process. Grantees also help families find affordable rental housing and offer financial literacy training to help struggling families repair credit problems.

Treasury has announced it will exercise its authority to obligate up to $2 billion in additional Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funds to the Hardest Hit Fund (HHF) program. The additional investment in HHF will enable participating state Housing Finance Agencies (HFAs) to continue assisting struggling homeowners and stabilizing neighborhoods in many of the nation’s hardest hit communities. The fifth round of HHF funding will be allocated among participating HFAs in two phases of $1 billion each. States receiving additional funds will have until December 31, 2020, to utilize their HHF funds, an extension from the current program end date of December 31, 2017.

In prepared remarks at the Bipartisan Policy Center, FHFA Director Watt discussed the agency’s management of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in conservatorship. He reviewed the FHFA’s role as regulator and conservator, the challenges and risks of a protracted conservatorship including the role of market discipline and planning for the uncertain future role of Fannie and Freddie in housing finance.

The February 18, 2016 charge-off and delinquency rates on loans and leases at commercial banks report has been released by the Federal Reserve.