On April 16, 2020, the NCUA approved several regulatory relief measures to assist credit unions during the COVID-19 pandemic including: 1). A temporary final rule granting measures of regulatory relief to help ensure that federally insured credit unions remain operational and liquid during the COVID-19 pandemic. 2) An interim final rule that temporarily defers real estate-related appraisals and evaluations under the agency’s appraisal regulations because the public health crisis and social distancing directives have created difficulties for lenders to obtain required appraisals on a timely basis. 3) A final rule that increases the threshold level below which appraisals would not be required for residential real estate-related transactions from $250,000 to $400,000.

On 4/16/20, the Small Business Administration (SBA) updated its website to reflect the fact that all available funds for the PPP program have been used up. Specifically, the SBA placed the following notice on its website:

“Lapse in Appropriations Notice: SBA is unable to accept new applications at this time for the Paycheck Protection Program or the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL)-COVID-19 related assistance program (including EIDL Advances) based on available appropriations funding.

On April 10, 2020, the CFPB issued a policy statement to ensure that consumers will be able to continue to send remittance transfers without disruption during the COVID-19 pandemic. More information can be found by clicking this link.

On April 7, 2020, the CFPB issued a revised interagency statement encouraging financial institutions to work constructively with borrowers affected by COVID-19 and providing additional information regarding loan modifications. The revised statement also provides the agencies’ views on consumer protection considerations.