# 2026-05384: Executive Order Boosts Rural Mortgage Access by Cutting Red Tape 2026-05384, Promoting Access to Mortgage Credit, is a Federal Register presidential document from Executive Office of the President published 2026-03-18, effective 2026-03-13; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-11-04). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-05384 - As of: 2026-11-04 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Document number: 2026-05384 - Title: Promoting Access to Mortgage Credit - Type: Presidential Document - Agencies: Executive Office of the President - Citation: 91 FR 13203 - Published: 2026-03-18 - Effective: 2026-03-13 - Comments close: not stated - Significant: no - Touches household money: yes - Regulation identifier numbers: none - Last updated: 2026-11-04 ## In one line Executive Order Boosts Rural Mortgage Access by Cutting Red Tape ## Summary This new order makes it easier for community and smaller banks to offer home loans by cutting red tape and updating rules. It helps more people, especially in rural and low-income areas, get fair mortgage rates and better access to credit. These changes start rolling out soon and aim to lower costs and boost competition in the mortgage market. ## Effects PRIA read - Expand Mortgage Access for Creditworthy Borrowers: benefit, high. The order directs agencies to reduce regulatory burdens so more creditworthy borrowers — including rural households and low- and moderate-income households — can get mortgages at rates tied to their credit. The order calls out community banks (generally under $30 billion in assets) and “smaller ban… - Tailored ATR/QM Rules for Smaller Banks: benefit, medium. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is directed to consider amendments to Regulation Z to tailor Ability-to-Repay (ATR) and Qualified Mortgage (QM) requirements for smaller banks, including possibly broader QM safe harbors for portfolio loans. This is aimed at reducing compliance burden… - Replace TRID Timing With Materiality Standard: benefit, medium. The CFPB is asked to consider replacing Truth in Lending / RESPA Integrated Disclosure (TRID) timing rules with a materiality-based standard to preserve consumer clarity and reduce closing delays. The goal is to cut timing-related delays at closing. - Modify QM Points and Fees Caps for Small Loans: benefit, medium. The CFPB is directed to consider exempting small-mortgage loans from caps on Qualified Mortgage (QM) points and fees or to modify those caps to support affordability. This seeks to make small loans more affordable and workable for lenders to offer. - Modernize Right-to-Rescission With Digital Tools: benefit, low. The order directs agencies to modernize the right to rescission in mortgage lending by enabling secure electronic and digital forms and processes, which could speed transactions and allow digital rescission handling. - Exempt Refinance From Rescission Rights: cost, medium. The order directs consideration of exempting rate-and-term refinancing, including cash-out refinancing, from rescission rights under mortgage rules. - Raise HMDA Reporting Thresholds for Smaller Banks: benefit, low. The CFPB is directed to consider raising the asset threshold for exemption from Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) reporting for smaller banks and to exclude inquiries from HMDA scope to reduce reporting burdens and privacy risks for smaller institutions. - Targeted FHLB Liquidity Programs for Entry-Level Housing: benefit, medium. The order directs consideration of creating targeted Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) liquidity programs for entry-level housing, owner-occupied purchase loans, and small residential builders, and expanding access to longer-dated FHLB advances tied to residential mortgage assets. - Appraisal Rules Modernized to Speed Low‑Risk Loans: benefit, medium. Agencies are to consider expanding use of alternative valuation models, desktop and hybrid appraisals, and AI tools; simplifying appraiser qualifications; and reducing appraisal requirements for low-risk transactions, including low loan-to-value refinancing and small-balance loans. - Digital Mortgage Standards and E-Signatures: benefit, medium. The order asks agencies to consider eliminating wet-signature requirements, standardizing acceptance of electronic signatures, e-notes, and remote online notarization, and promoting digital mortgage standards to modernize mortgage origination and closing. - Servicing Certainty, Cure‑First Treatment, and Simplified Loss Mitigation: mixed, medium. Supervisors are directed to align expectations to support portfolio mortgage servicing by community banks, extend cure-first standards to good-faith servicing errors, simplify loss mitigation requirements, and consider exemptions from complex mortgage servicing rules for smaller banks. - Enforcement Policy Favoring Correction-First Approach: mixed, low. The order directs regulators to consider a policy discouraging civil monetary penalties except for willful, knowing, or reckless violations; to consider good corporate conduct and correction of good-faith, technical errors; and to allow institutions reasonable opportunity for self-identification an… - Eliminate Unnecessary Licensing for Loan Officers: benefit, low. Regulators are asked to consider eliminating duplicative or unnecessary licensing or registration requirements for mortgage loan officers of smaller banks to reduce compliance costs and licensing burdens for those institutions. ## Related documents - [2026-22385](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-22385): Adjusting Imports of Robotics, Industrial Machinery, and Their Parts and Components Into the United States, 2026-11-02 - [2026-22292](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-22292): Further Modifying the Scope of Products of Canada Subject to the Additional Duties Imposed To Offset Canadian Discrimination Against the Co…, 2026-10-30 - [2026-22051](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-22051): Decreasing Housing Costs for the American People, 2026-10-28 - [2026-22052](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-22052): Presidential Determination Pursuant to Section 303 of the Defense Production Act of 1950, as Amended, on Domestic Petroleum Production, Ref…, 2026-10-28 - [2026-22049](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-22049): Adjusting Imports of Wind Turbines and Their Parts and Components Into the United States, 2026-10-28 - [2026-22050](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-22050): National Seafood Month, 2026, 2026-10-28 ## Sources - [2026-05384 on federalregister.gov](https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/03/18/2026-05384/promoting-access-to-mortgage-credit) - [2026-05384 as published (PDF)](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-03-18/pdf/2026-05384.pdf) ## Related - [Previous: 2026-05383, Ensuring Truthful Advertising of Products Claiming To Be Made in America](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-05383) - [Next: 2026-05388, Removing Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Home Construction](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-05388) - [All Federal Register documents](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register) Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-05384 (as of 2026-11-04).