Homebuyers enter 2025 with more for-sale listings

Plus: Medical debt banned from credit reporting

January 08, 2025

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Disclaimer: Average mortgage rates as of Jan 07, 2025. © MND Daily Rate Index.

1. CFPB sues Vanderbilt Mortgage for trapping borrowers in risky loans

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is suing Vanderbilt Mortgage & Finance, a Berkshire Hathaway-owned lender, for allegedly steering borrowers into unaffordable manufactured home loans.

Vanderbilt, a subsidiary of Clayton Homes, the largest U.S. manufactured home producer, is accused of ignoring evidence that borrowers couldn’t repay.

"Vanderbilt knowingly traps people in risky loans in order to close the deal on selling a manufactured home. The CFPB's lawsuit seeks to not only protect homebuyers, but also honest lenders helping people to finance the purchase of an affordable home."

CFPB Director Rohit Chopra

2. Medical debt banned from credit reporting

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau yesterday finalized its rule barring medical debt from being included on credit reports, potentially freeing up billions in credit.

The finalized rule will prevent medical bills from being included on credit reports used by lenders and will prohibit lenders from using medical information in their decision-making.

The CFPB estimated this rule will remove $49 billion in medical bills from the credit reports for roughly 15 million Americans. “No one should be denied economic opportunity because they got sick or experienced a medical emergency.” Harris said.

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3. More Nuggets

🏚️ DOJ accuses six major landlords of scheming to keep rents high. (The Hill)

✋ More than one-third of homeowners say they’ll never sell. (Redfin)

📊 Only half of FHA borrowers eligible for down payment assistance receive It. (NMP)

⚖️ NAHB, 15 state AGs sue HUD, USDA over building codes. (NAHB)

📺 'Breaking Bad' house goes up for sale for $4 Million. (KOB)

🗞️ The quagmire that is Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. (Axios)

💰 Insurance and taxes now cost more than mortgages for many homeowners. (WSJ)

4. Homebuyers enter 2025 with more for-sale listings

National active listings are on the rise (+22.0% between Dec 2023 and Dec 2024). This indicates that homebuyers have gained some leverage in many parts of the country, with some markets even feeling like buyers' markets on the ground.

Dive deeper: Resiclub Analysis

5. HUD allocates $12B for disaster-stricken communities

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) yesterday announced the allocation of ~$12 billion in Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds for communities across 24 states and territories.

This money is designed to go toward long-term recovery efforts for communities impacted by recent natural disasters. These include hurricanes Helene and Milton in the fall of 2024, as well as the 2023 wildfires that devastated Lahaina on the Hawaiian island of Maui.

“To support recovery from Hurricane Helene, HUD allocated more than $1.6 billion to communities across North Carolina, including $225 million to the city of Asheville and $1.2 billion to the state for disaster impacted communities statewide,” HUD explained. “These funds are critical — with tens of thousands of houses damaged or destroyed, more than 12,000 western North Carolinians are without safe housing.”

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