White House Orders Easing of Community Bank Mortgage Rules

Mortgage rules introduced after the Dodd-Frank Act raised origination and servicing costs, prompting banks to pull back from the market. Community banks with less than $30 billion in assets have been hit particularly hard. The White House hopes that easing compliance burdens will expand access to credit in rural and lower- and middle-income communities and for first-time homebuyers, while bolstering Republicans' housing policy agenda ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

Trump signed Executive Order 14393 on March 13, 2026, directing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to review ability-to-repay (ATR) requirements, the qualified mortgage (QM) safe harbor, TRID disclosures and HMDA reporting for smaller banks with less than $100 billion in assets. Federal banking regulators were separately instructed to revise capital, liquidity and appraisal rules. The order did not specify any funding, and its impact will depend on subsequent rulemaking.