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Title: Federal National Mortgage Association, or "Fannie Mae," headquarters building in Washington, D.C Physical description: 1 transparency : color ; 4 x 5 in. or smaller Notes: Title, date, and keywords provided by the photographer.; Digital image produced by Carol M. Highsmith to represent her original film transparency; some details may differ between the film and the digital images.; Forms part of the Selects Series in the Carol M. Highsmith Archive.; Gift and purchase; Carol M. Highsmith; 2011; (DLC/PP-2011:124).; Credit line: Photographs in the Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.

Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the FHA just opened mortgage lending to VantageScore 4.0 — and FICO 10T historical credit data starts publishing this summer for a broader 2027 rollout

Mortgage borrowers gained a new option on April 22, 2026, when the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the FHA, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac simultaneously cleared VantageScore 4.0 for use in home loan underwriting. The move breaks a decades-long period in which FICO was the only credit scoring model accepted by the government-sponsored enterprises and the…

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The 2026 Earned Income Tax Credit pays up to $7,830 for families with 3 or more qualifying children — but earned income above $59,899 single makes you ineligible entirely

Working families with three or more children stand to receive a larger Earned Income Tax Credit in 2026, with the maximum credit rising to $8,231, up from $8,046 for tax year 2025. But the credit phases out entirely once a single filer’s earned income crosses the threshold, creating a sharp cutoff that can erase thousands…

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COBRA premiums now average $584 a month for individual coverage and $1,640 for family coverage — laid-off workers pay 102% of the full group rate without the employer’s contribution

Workers who lose employer-sponsored health insurance and elect to continue it through COBRA face a steep financial cliff: they must cover the entire premium their employer once subsidized, plus an administrative surcharge, at the exact moment their paycheck disappears. Federal law caps what plans can charge at 102 percent of the total cost, but for…

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Mortgage rates sit at 6.53% — but borrowers are paying $190 a month more than the 10-year Treasury yield would suggest, the widest mortgage-bond spread since 1990

Homebuyers locking in a 30-year fixed mortgage are absorbing a cost penalty that has not been this steep in more than three decades. The gap between the average mortgage rate and the 10-year Treasury yield has ballooned to levels last seen around 1990, adding roughly $190 a month to a typical borrower’s payment compared with…

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The 2026-2027 FAFSA dropped to just 36 questions — and family-owned businesses with under 100 employees no longer count against the student aid index for the first time

Families who run small businesses and apply for federal student aid will no longer have those enterprises counted against them when colleges calculate how much help they qualify for. The 2026-2027 FAFSA form has been trimmed to 36 questions, and a new asset exclusion rule means that a family-owned business with 100 or fewer full-time…

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TSA now charges $45 to verify travelers without a REAL ID at airport checkpoints — the ConfirmID workaround clears you for 10 days but adds 30 minutes per security line

Air travelers 18 and older who show up to a TSA checkpoint without a REAL ID or another accepted form of identification now face a $45 non-refundable fee to attempt identity verification through the agency’s ConfirmID program. The charge, which took effect on February 1, 2026, buys a 10-day window of access, but only if…

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The maximum Pell Grant climbs to $7,395 for 2026-2027 — and Pell now covers up to 12 semesters across a student’s lifetime regardless of which schools the student attends

Low-income college students heading into the 2026-27 academic year will receive up to $7,395 in Federal Pell Grant aid, a figure locked in by Congress through the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026. That award follows students across every institution they attend, with a hard lifetime cap of six Scheduled Awards, the equivalent of roughly 12 full-time…

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Apartment vacancies hit 7.8% in Q1 — the highest since 1989 — as 712,000 new units delivered in 2025 finally outpaced renter demand

Renters across the United States gained bargaining power in early 2026 as apartment vacancies climbed to levels not seen in years, driven by a wave of new construction that finally exceeded the pace at which tenants signed leases. The headline claim of a 7.8% vacancy rate and 712,000 new units delivered in 2025 captures the…

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The Saver’s Match starts in 2027 — but only workers earning under $20,500 single or $41,000 joint qualify for the full $1,000 federal retirement-contribution match

Millions of lower-income workers who set aside even small amounts for retirement will soon be eligible for a direct federal deposit into their retirement accounts, but the income thresholds are tight enough to shut out a large share of the workforce. Starting with taxable years beginning after December 31, 2026, the federal government will match…

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CMS comments close June 15 on a rule forcing Medicare drug plans to approve prior authorization within 72 hours — 24 hours for urgent requests

Millions of people enrolled in Medicare Advantage, Medicaid, CHIP, and federal marketplace plans could see drug prior authorization decisions arrive days faster under a proposed federal rule now open for public comment until June 15, 2026. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) wants to require health plans to approve or deny standard drug…

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