Main Street Capital Access Act Passes House – What’s In It for Mortgage Lenders?
On the heels of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act becoming law on July 11, the House passed another bill worth watching. H.R. 6955, the Main Street Capital Access (“Main Street”) Act, passed the House on July 21, 2026. It now heads to the Senate.
The bill focuses on community bank formation and regulatory tailoring. While it is aimed at banks broadly, several provisions touch on issues that affect the mortgage industry. Below is a short list.
New Bank Formation
The bill amends the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act’s new bank formation provisions, including:
Shortening a 180-day review period to 90 days for certain applications.
Extending the new-bank-formation provisions.
Directing more transparency around new bank application numbers.
More de novo banks entering local markets could expand the pool of correspondent and warehouse lending partners available to independent mortgage companies over time.
CDFI Fund Changes
The bill includes transparency requirements for the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) and improvements to the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program:
Requires the Treasury Secretary to testify annually to Congress on CDFI Fund operations and outreach to community lenders.
Reaffirms the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program as a source of long-term capital for community development financial institutions.
Mortgage companies working with CDFI-certified partners should watch how these changes affect funding availability and reporting.
Easing Bank Regulation
Title II addresses how regulations apply based on a bank’s risk profile:
Includes relief for small bank holding companies.
Indexes certain regulatory thresholds going forward.
For community banks that also originate mortgages in-house, this tailoring could ease compliance burden on the mortgage side of the business too.
Local Bank Funding
Title V updates discount window access and includes a “Keeping Deposits Local” provision:
Directs the Federal Reserve to complete a review of discount window lending programs within 240 days of enactment.
Raises the cap on reciprocal deposits exempt from broker-deposit treatment from roughly $96 billion to $250 billion.
Banks that rely on local deposits for mortgage origination could see funding conditions affected.
What Mortgage Companies Should Do
At this stage, no action is required. The bill has not passed the Senate and its provisions are not yet law. That said, lenders with community bank partners, correspondent relationships, or CDFI ties should keep an eye on:
Whether the Senate makes changes to the bank formation timelines.
How CDFI Fund transparency requirements are implemented if enacted.
Whether tailoring provisions affect any bank counterparties that also handle residential lending.
We will continue tracking this bill and will provide an update as it moves through the Senate.
Read the bill here.
Questions about how this legislation may affect your business? Contact troy@garrishorn.com.