Housing Assistance: An Inventory of Fiscal Year 2010 Programs, Tax Expenditures, and Other Activities

U.S. Government Accountability Office

Administering Agency/Entity	Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and Federal Financial Regulators (Federal Reserve Board, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, National Credit Union Administration, and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency) and the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC)
Short Description	Enacted in 2008, mandated a nationwide licensing and registration system for mortgage loan originators. The act requires all states to provide for a licensing and registration regime for mortgage loan originators who are not employed by an institution regulated by a federal financial regulator or the Farm Credit Administration (FCA). Also requires the federal financial regulators, through FFIEC and FCA, to develop and maintain a system for registering mortgage loan originators employed by institutions regulated by the federal financial regulators and FCA. Authority for rulemaking and to develop and maintain the system under the SAFE Act transferred to CFPB. CFPB and the federal financial regulators enforce compliance with the act, and FFIEC helps promote uniformity.
Primary Purpose	Regulatory requirements
Type of Housing Supported	Homeownership
Type of Assistance	Regulation
Fiscal Year 2010 Obligations	Costs for the SAFE Act are not quantified or tracked separately.