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Latest Spotlight on Servicing: The State of CRE Servicing – Midyear 2026

July 10, 2026

We are pleased to share the release of The State of CRE Servicing – Midyear 2026, the second report in our Spotlight on Servicing educational series focused on the servicing business.

Drawing on discussions from last month’s CREFC Annual Conference, the report highlights the key servicing themes that emerged across multiple sessions and explores what they reveal about the current state of commercial real estate servicing. From evolving asset management strategies and investor expectations to the growing demand for timely, transparent loan reporting, the report provides a timely overview of the issues shaping today's servicing landscape.

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Spotlight on Servicing reports can be found in the CREFC Resource Center or Member Alert archives.

For questions or additional information:
Rich Carlson
Senior Director, Servicing Liaison
CRE Finance Council
rcarlson@crefc.org

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Housing Bill in Limbo After Congress Passes and President Declines to Sign

June 30, 2026

As we covered last week, the revised 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act (H.R. 6644) passed the Senate by a vote of 85-5 and the House 358-32. 

• However, President Trump abruptly canceled a June 24 signing ceremony and said he would not sign the bill until the Senate passed the SAVE America Act.
• Click here for our previous coverage on the legislation.

Why it matters: Trump was expected to sign the bill, but he posted on social media several times that the bill was written by Democrats and then declined to sign as a pressure tactic on the Senate to pass the election-related legislation. 

• Constitutionally, Trump has 10 days (excluding Sundays) to sign or veto the bill, otherwise it will become law on July 9. The House “presented” the bill to the President on Monday, which started the 10-day clock. 
• President Trump has not threatened to veto the bill. If he did, 2/3 of each chamber would have to vote to override the bill to enact it. 
• While H.R. 6644 passed each chamber above the 2/3 threshold, a veto override would not be guaranteed. Many Republicans would likely balk at overriding the President on this issue. 
  

Go deeper: The bill still contains a section that seeks to ban large institutional investors from owning more than 350 single-family homes.

• Click here for a more detailed analysis of the SFR provision.
• The latest version of the SFR section is unchanged from what the House passed in May. Build-to-rent is intended to be exempt from the ban and it does not include a seven-year divestment mandate.
• While the ban includes several exemptions and is not intended to require large institutional investors to sell their current holdings, industry questions remain about the operational aspects of the law.

Contact David McCarthy (dmccarthy@crefc.org) with questions.

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CRE CLO Investor Reporting Update

June 30, 2026

CREFC held a highly engaged, roundtable meeting during the CREFC Annual Conference in New York City to address evolution and standardization across CRE Collateralized Loan Obligation (CRE CLO) reporting. The session, which brought together over 120 market participants, focused on driving enhanced transparency and assessing the structural deployment of CREFC’s Collateral Manager Data Report (CMDR). 

The discussion centered on several critical updates, market adoption metrics, and forward-looking data initiatives:

• Accelerating Adoption of the CMDR: Market implementation of the CMDR has demonstrated industry-wide momentum. Originally launched in October 2025 to introduce a standardized reporting framework for transitional assets, the report has quickly established wide adoption. Multiple collateral managers have chosen to retroactively implement CMDR reporting frameworks for legacy, older-vintage CRE CLO transactions. Currently, over 70% of all CRE CLOs issued since January 2024 are compliant with this reporting standard.
• Industry Feedback Solicitation: While CREFC is highly encouraged by the strong institutional adoption of the CMDR to date, the goal is to make the CREFC CMDR a market standard. To ensure the reporting adapts to changing credit environments, CREFC is actively soliciting industry feedback. Participants who wish to suggest data field refinements, technical modifications, or structural changes to the current report are strongly encouraged to submit their recommendations directly to CREFC.
• Ongoing Dialogue on Servicer Financial Reporting: The roundtable engaged in a detailed discussion regarding methods to improve and accelerate the throughput of property-level financial reporting spread by servicers. While participants did not establish immediate consensus or produce specific document recommendations during the session, the dialogue underscored a shared industry desire for greater data consistency. CREFC remains committed to actively engaging with collateral managers, servicers, and investors over the coming months to develop practical solutions that reduce reporting friction and heighten overall secondary market transparency.
  

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Supreme Court Frees Trump to Fire Independent Regulators, but Shields the Fed

June 30, 2026

Yesterday, the Supreme Court handed President Trump sweeping power to remove independent regulators at will, while carving out a pointed exception that protects the Federal Reserve, including, for now, Fed governor Lisa Cook.

Why it matters: The split rulings mark a shift of power from Congress to the president, giving the White House more direct control over more than two dozen agencies that oversee consumers, workers, the environment and nuclear safety.

Driving the news: In a 6-3 ruling, the court cleared the way for Trump to fire Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, a Democratic FTC commissioner, despite a law allowing removal only for "inefficiency, neglect of duty or malfeasance in office."

• The decision formally overrules Humphrey's Executor v. United States, the 1935 precedent that for 90 years protected FTC commissioners and similar regulators from being fired over policy disagreements. "If anything more is left of Humphrey's, we overrule it," Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the majority.
• The court found the FTC's for-cause protection contrary to the Constitution's separation of powers. The three liberal justices dissented.

Yes, but: In a separate 5-4 decision, the court blocked Trump from immediately ousting Cook, ruling she was entitled to notice and a chance to respond before being fired, though not a full trial or a meeting with Trump himself.

• The majority was an unusual coalition: Roberts and fellow conservative Brett Kavanaugh joined the three liberals; the other four conservatives dissented.

The removal power compounds executive orders Trump has issued to pull regulatory rulemaking toward the White House and Treasury.

• His February 2025 "Ensuring Accountability for All Agencies" order requires independent agencies to submit major rules to the White House budget office (OMB/OIRA) for review before publication, with a carve-out for the Fed's monetary-policy functions.
• Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has signaled Treasury intends to play a bigger role in bank regulation, with the prudential regulators following his lead.

Catch up quick: Trump announced Cook's firing last August, the first time in the central bank's history a president had tried to remove a board member.

• He cited allegations from FHFA Director Bill Pulte that Cook claimed two homes as her primary residence on 2021 mortgage paperwork to get better loan terms. Cook has denied any wrongdoing. 
• A federal law lets the president remove Fed members only "for cause." Two lower courts had blocked the firing while her suit proceeded.

The bottom line: The court gave Trump broad new authority over the regulatory state. Paired with his executive orders steering rulemaking through Treasury and the White House, the executive branch now reaches deeper into how agencies are run and how their rules are made. 

• We might also see less stability in bipartisan commissions such as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) if presidents can fire commissioners at will. This could lead to greater regulatory volatility across future administrations.
• The Fed, for now, sits in a protected class of its own.
  

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Bank Capital Proposals Draw Broad Industry Support with Targeted Pushback on Key Provisions

June 30, 2026

As covered in last week’s Policy & Capital Market’s Briefing, on June 18, CREFC submitted its response, as well as the joint real estate response, to the banking agencies’ Basel capital proposals. 

Given the significance of these proposals for CRE finance, CREFC surveyed nearly 25 comment letters from across the banking, housing, and capital markets landscape. 

Most of the commentary signaled strong directional support for the proposals but also included near-universal pushback on several key provisions.

• The proposed expansion of "commitment" elicited arguments that it would depart from established legally-binding-obligation standards, inject ambiguity, and force banks to hold capital against arrangements where no legal obligation to fund exists. 
  • CREFC and the joint CRE trade associations added a CRE-specific dimension: warehouse facilities are typically uncommitted, secured, and underwritten advance-by-advance. 
  • Several banks stated that warehouse lending supports over 60% of single-family mortgage originations and that punitive capital treatment would shrink bank participation.
  • A few trades argued that the agencies' failure to quantify the impact or articulate a rationale for the change raised concerns under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). 
• The agencies' proposal to require securitization performance depend "solely" on underlying exposures drew broad opposition.
  • Banks and trades warned the change would disqualify common securitization structures, including warehouse facilities, that include narrow, ancillary sponsor support, with at least one stating that it would violate the APA's change-in-position doctrine. 
• While the agencies’ proposed removal of the mortgage servicing assets (MSA) deduction from capital was welcome across most commenters, a broad coalition also called for reducing the 250% MSR risk weight, with most converging on 100% as appropriate. 
  • CREFC noted that CRE MSRs have additional stability features including yield maintenance, defeasance, and lockout provisions that further dampen volatility. 
  • The FHLB of Chicago stated that the 250% weight has deterred banks from originating and retaining mortgage servicing, contributing to the migration of servicing to nonbanks over the past decade.
• Banks and trades also argued that LTV-based CRE risk weights available for the largest banks should be extended to Category III and IV banks and smaller institutions under the Standardized Approach.
  • The proposed modest reduction from 100% to 95% for standardized-approach banks doesn't reflect the same risk-sensitivity principles applied to residential real estate across both proposals. 
  • One bank warned that concentrating capital relief at the largest institutions risks "discouraging traditional commercial lending and undermining competitive equity across the banking system."

A few other CREFC recommendations also received independent support from other commenters, including:

• Treating qualifying LIHTC investments as public sector entity (PSE) exposures with a risk-weight of 20%, which would increase liquidity for an important affordable housing financing tool.
• Capping high-LTV CRE risk weight at 100% and reversing the current counterintuitive result where the risk weight for 80%+ LTV cash-flow-dependent CRE would be higher than the maximum for unsecured corporate exposures. 
• Treating Fannie Mae DUS loss-sharing exposures as PSE exposures, as this would align GSE exposure treatment with the credit quality and government support afforded the GSEs at least while they are under conservatorship.

Yes, but: A group of prominent academics argued the proposals would "materially lower capital requirements for the largest and most systemically important banks" and, combined with enhanced Supplementary Leverage Ratio changes and stress test modifications, reduce the resilience of the U.S. banking system. Additionally:

• Better Markets called for the agencies to withdraw and repropose several provisions, arguing the agencies lack the loan-level data to support LTV-sensitive risk weights. 
• The CFA Institute's Systemic Risk Council argued that eliminating the standardized approach floor for Category I and II banks is "clearly inconsistent" with the Collins Amendment to Dodd-Frank.

What's next: The agencies are now in the review-and-synthesis phase. 

• A final rule could come as early as late 2026, with compliance dates phased in thereafter. 
• CREFC will continue to monitor developments and engage with agency staff through the finalization process.
  

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Mamdani-Endorsed Congressional Candidates Triumph in Primaries

June 30, 2026

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani significantly expanded his political influence last week after all three of his endorsed Democratic congressional candidates prevailed in New York's primary elections, including two victories over incumbent members of Congress. 

Why it matters: The results underscore the growing strength of the city's progressive wing and could have meaningful implications for the expansion of the DSA (Democratic Socialists of America) representation in Congress. 

• The highest-profile upset came in Manhattan and Brooklyn, where New York City Comptroller Brad Lander defeated Rep. Dan Goldman. 
• In Brooklyn's open 7th Congressional District, State Assembly member Claire Valdez secured the Democratic nomination. 
• While in Upper Manhattan and the Bronx, Darializa Avila Chevalier unseated five-term Rep. Adriano Espaillat in another surprise. 

In each race, Mamdani's endorsement was viewed as a significant asset for candidates running on affordability, housing, and progressive economic platforms. The victories represent an early test of Mamdani's political capital following his election as mayor. 

The bottom line: The growth of this wing of the party could cause headaches for Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) if the Democrats are to retake control of the House. 

• Jeffries will have to contest with a larger group of progressives dubbed “the Squad 2.0” who will be eager to push their policy positions and grow their influence after endorsements from Mamdani and national political recognition.
• The current “Squad” in Congress stands at seven members.
  

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