This report examines how modernizing federal insurance programs for manufactured home loans can expand affordable housing access. Modern manufactured housing is high quality, but financing for certain loan types is limited due to outdated processes and inconsistent rules. Recommendations include automating underwriting, harmonizing loan requirements, and improving data access to attract more lenders and support underserved communities.

This report details the experiences of mission-based lenders such as community development financial institutions (CDFIs) and minority depository institutions (MDIs) as they adopt electronic bank account data and lending platforms to increase lending to minority-owned businesses and other underserved entrepreneurs. The paper provides both a practical snapshot of how lenders manage data and technology adoption today and a broader analysis of issues that will shape their ability to serve substantially larger numbers of entrepreneurs going forward.

The market context report finds that current market conditions may present a unique window to build on substantial interest among industry, advocates, and policymakers in using non-conventional data sources such as digital wallet information and supply chain records for credit scoring and underwriting.

This policy analysis explores the regulatory and public policy implications of the increasing use of machine learning models and explainability and fairness techniques for credit underwriting in depth, particularly for model risk management, consumer disclosures, and fair lending compliance.

FinRegLab partnered with the Urban Institute to detail twenty years of research and efforts to access utility, telecom, and rental payment history for credit scoring and underwriting. The paper describes recent initiatives and key challenges going forward.

This report details the evolution of the use of cash-flow data in small business lending. It explains the reasons why electronic cash-flow data may be particularly useful in the small business context, presents evidence of its increasing use by a diverse range of incumbents and new entrants, and notes market and policy issues that may affect the nature and pace of further expansion.