Legislation
Browse articles from all of our Newsletters related to Legislation.
May 18, 2012 - Mortgage Beat
Team Coverage of the ASF Annual Meeting
Members of the editorial department of Inside Mortgage Finance Publications will deploy to the Four Seasons Hotel in Washington, DC, early next week for team coverage of the 2012 Annual Meeting of the American Securitization Forum, where one of the featured...
May 17, 2012 - Inside Mortgage Finance
Industry Views CFPB Pending Rule on L.O. Comp, Points, Fees Through Prism of Flawed Dodd-Frank
Mortgage lending industry representatives are apprehensive about how the underlying economics of originating a mortgage are going to be affected by a proposal expected sometime this summer from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Among the issues the CFPB indicated it will be considering is a requirement that consumers get a lower interest rate when they pay discount points. The bureau is also thinking about requiring lenders to offer consumers a no-discount-point loan option, as well as banning origination charges that vary with the size of the mortgage. The CFPB is also going to look...
May 14, 2012 - Inside Regulatory Strategies
House GOP Members Press Cordray for CFPB Budget Details
Three Republicans on the House Committee on Financial Services again pressed Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray for additional information regarding the agency’s budget, even though Congress does not control the bureau’s purse strings. The Republicans’ justification in pressing the issue is that the bureau’s budget affects the national debt while that of the other non-appropriated federal banking regulators do not. Noting the rising of the federal government’s budget deficit and the fact that the CFPB is funded by the Federal Reserve, the lawmakers...
May 14, 2012 - Inside Regulatory Strategies
Industry Makes Fresh Push to Change Point, Fee Calculation
Mortgage bankers and brokers are making a fresh push to support H.R. 4323, the Consumer Mortgage Choice Act, legislation that would change the way points and fees are calculated under the Qualified Mortgage definition in the Dodd-Frank Act. Trade groups representing these segments of the industry have made new appeals to their members recently to reach out to their respective lawmakers and garner their support for the legislation. The Consumer Mortgage Choice Act would spell out that affiliate title fees, certain loan originator compensation, and escrow payments are not included...
May 14, 2012 - Inside Regulatory Strategies
Borrower Only Needs to Notify Lender of Intent to Rescind
In Gilbert v. Residential Funding LLC, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit became the first federal appellate court to rule that a borrower only needs to send notice of rescission within the three-year period to exercise a valid right to rescind. In this case, the borrowers are appealing a district court’s dismissal of their claim that Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas, as trustee for Residential Accredit Loans, Inc., Residential Funding LLC and GMAC Mortgage LLC, violated various consumer protection laws in connection with a refinance mortgage the borrowers secured...
May 14, 2012 - Inside Regulatory Strategies
Industry Challenges CFPB on TILA Case
Three mortgage lending industry groups have challenged the position of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in a key Truth in Lending Act case by asserting that borrowers must file a lawsuit within three years of a mortgage loan’s signing in order to exercise their right of rescission. As far as the industry is concerned, the crux of the dispute in Rosenfield v. HSBC Bank, No. 10-1442, currently before the 10th District Court of Appeals, is whether borrowers who notify lenders of their intent to rescind must also sue their lenders within three years. TILA gives certain...
May 11, 2012 - Inside FHA Lending
Beware of Conflicting FHA Rules, Standards
Mortgage servicers could find themselves in a quandary as they implement the national servicing standards outlined in the March foreclosure settlement agreement, especially if they run into conflicting FHA requirements. Compliance experts say that while many of the settlement standards could be carried out within the FHA program without being at odds with existing FHA requirements, conflicts do exist with the guidelines that cannot be resolved. Even when it is technically possible to comply with both FHA guidelines and the settlement standards, it is still going to ...
May 3, 2012 - Inside Mortgage Finance
Complexities of the QM/QRM Standards Mean The Industry Needs a Year to Implement Disclosure Rule
Mortgage industry officials are urging the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to give the industry plenty of time to implement the extensive – and inter-related – changes that are required under the Dodd-Frank Act. Two of the biggest anxieties these days are the rules on “qualified mortgages” and “qualified residential mortgages” being developed by federal regulators. Another is the CFPB project to integrate Truth in Lending Act/Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act mortgage disclosures. In addition to the fact that none of these rules have been made final, there’s a good deal of angst over how they...
April 30, 2012 - Inside Regulatory Strategies
TILA/GFE Reform, Fair Lending Top Lender Compliance Concerns
The forthcoming combined Truth in Lending Act and Good Faith Estimate disclosure form and related rule pending at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is at the top of the list of greatest compliance concerns of mortgage lenders, according to the fourth annual compliance survey by QuestSoft, a provider of compliance software and services to the mortgage industry. Of the 426 lenders that were surveyed on their level of anxiety for regulatory changes, a whopping 81 percent identified this CFPB project as at least a medium (33 percent) or a high (48 percent) concern...
April 30, 2012 - Inside Regulatory Strategies
CFPB Soliciting Small Entities’ Input on Mortgage Servicing Rules
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has put together a second panel, as per the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act, tasked with giving the bureau input on the mortgage servicing rules proposal that the CFPB is working on under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. “The SBREFA requires the CFPB to convene a small business panel before rolling out regulations that the CFPB director expects to have a significant impact on a substantial number of small business entities,” explained Barbara Mishkin, of counsel in the consumer financial services group...
April 30, 2012 - Inside Regulatory Strategies
CFPB Clarifies Transitional Licensing Under the SAFE Act
It’s now clear that states may provide a transitional license to an individual with a valid license from another state under the Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act and Regulation H. However, they cannot provide a transitional license for a registered loan originator who leaves a federally regulated financial institution to act as a loan originator while pursuing a state license. The clarification came in the form of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Bulletin 2012-05, issued a week and a half ago, in response to some inquiries...
April 30, 2012 - Inside Regulatory Strategies
Industry Supports Multiple Efforts To Codify Privileged Protections
A handful of mortgage lending-related trade groups joined together to express their strong support of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s proposed rule to codify the legal protections for privileged information that CFPB-regulated financial institutions submit to the bureau. The proposal would make clear that an institution that submits privileged information to the CFPB does not waive any applicable privilege having to do with third parties. It also would make clear that the bureau’s transfer of privileged information to another federal or state agency does not result in a...
April 30, 2012 - Inside Regulatory Strategies
Lenders Press CFPB for QM Full Safe Harbor
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau must structure the definition of a “qualified mortgage” under its forthcoming ability-to-repay rule as a legal safe harbor with clear, well-defined standards if regulators want to make sure that qualified borrowers across the credit spectrum maintain access to affordable financing, representatives of the financial services, home building and real estate industries said. Writing to the CFPB late last week, a group of 23 trade associations said, “Structuring the QM as a safe harbor and focusing litigation and enforcement activity on...
April 30, 2012 - Inside Regulatory Strategies
Industry Lists Concerns With CFPB Disclosure
An ad hoc coalition of mortgage lender trade group representatives rattled off a host of concerns it has with the draft proposals from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for an integrated mortgage disclosure under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act and the Truth in Lending Act. The short list of concerns includes the need for careful synchronization with other rulemaking efforts, especially those involving the “qualified mortgage” and “qualified residential mortgage” designations; the negative and unfair results of lowering cost tolerances; the unintended consequences of expanding...
April 27, 2012 - Inside FHA Lending
HUD Eager to See Mortgage Servicing, QM Rules
The Department of Housing and Urban Development said it would review and update as necessary its requirements for servicers of FHA-insured loans in conjunction with the establishment of new standards by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. HUD wants to ensure coordination between the FHA and CFPB standards and that each set of standards provides effective solutions for borrowers, said an FHA spokesman. On April 9, the CFPB previewed some of the mortgage servicing rules, which the agency plans to propose this summer and adopt in January 2013. It is unclear whether ...
April 27, 2012 - Mortgage Beat
Mortgage Lending Oversight Remains an Active Priority
Official Washington may be abuzz with talk of Secret Service scandal and presidential campaigns, but there have been plenty of developments related to mortgage lending that we’ve been keeping up with. On the short list: The interagency group of federal banking regulators...
April 27, 2012 - Inside Nonconforming Markets
CFPB Close to Issuing ‘Qualified Mortgage’ Rule
Facing a deadline set by the Dodd-Frank Act for the beginning of 2013, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is working on an ability-to-repay rule to define “qualified mortgages.” While industry participants have warned that few non-QMs will be originated, Raj Date, deputy director of the CFPB, said the regulator hopes to ensure that “prudent loans” will benefit from sufficient investor appetite and a competitive market. “We want to avoid any inappropriate disincentive that would prevent lenders from making ...
April 26, 2012 - Inside Mortgage Finance
Industry Wants Limited Liability, Consumers Want Access to Credit, Regulators Want Proper Incentives
An ad hoc coalition of trade associations, housing and consumer advocates, and community groups urged the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau last week to craft a “qualified mortgage” rule that encompasses a wide range of mortgage products and underwriting practices to protect credit availability. The varied group, which included the Mortgage Bankers Association, the American Securitization Forum, Consumer Mortgage Coalition and American Bankers Association, acknowledged that its members hold different views about whether the QM should be designed as a safe harbor or a rebuttable presumption...
April 23, 2012 - Mortgage Beat
The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act calls for the creation of 243 rules, which are currently scattered in different stages of the regulatory process. To help stakeholders keep their ducks in a row, the House Committee on Financial Services created a...
April 16, 2012 - Inside Regulatory Strategies
Industry Disappointed the CFPB Isn’t Adopting More Suggestions
Four mortgage- and financial services-related trade groups told the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau they’re unhappy the CFPB hasn’t adopted more of the suggestions they’ve made over the numerous iterations the bureau has put out of its Know Before You Owe consolidated consumer disclosure project. The CFPB is currently on the ninth version of its evolving disclosures model. “During the Know Before You Owe iterations, we have submitted a large number of comment letters that walk the CFPB through a large number of very technical, but important details,” the groups said...
April 16, 2012 - Inside Regulatory Strategies
Industry, Consumer Groups Call For Broad “Qualified Mortgage”
An unusual coalition of dozens of lender, realtor, consumer and civil rights groups late last week urged the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to write a broadly defined “qualified mortgage” as part of the ability-to-repay final rule it’s putting together as per the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The CFPB is expected to issue a proposed rule defining a QM shortly. As per the ability-to-repay standards of Dodd-Frank Section 1412, a qualified mortgage cannot have points and fees in excess of 3 percent of the loan amount. The groups are worried...
April 16, 2012 - Inside Regulatory Strategies
CFPB Takes Low-Hanging Fruit on L.O. Comp
With all the concern thatfs been raised about loan originator compensation since the mortgage marketfs collapse in 2008, and given a certain amount of gget-toughh rhetoric from leadership at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the agency seemed to take a quick-and-dirty approach when issuing its first pronouncement in topic earlier this month. Back in September 2010, the Federal Reserve put out loan originator compensation rules under the Truth in Lending Act and Regulation Z, effective as of April 6, 2011. Then with enactment of the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010...
April 16, 2012 - Inside Regulatory Strategies
Industry Frets Over Mortgage Servicing Rules
The mortgage lending industry is apprehensive about the multitude of mortgage servicing rules coming its way, and that anxiety is probably well justified, leading industry representatives suggests. Beyond last year’s consent orders and last month’s $25 billion mortgage servicing settlement and all the ramifications they have for industry servicing practices going forward, the most immediate concern has to do with a proposed rule on mortgage servicing due out this summer from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Last week, the CFPB made a public “pre-announcement” of the...
April 13, 2012 - Inside Nonconforming Markets
CFPB Targets Servicing ‘Surprises, Runarounds’
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau this week detailed servicing rules it will soon propose regarding disclosures to borrowers and servicing procedures. “The mortgage servicing rules we are considering reflect two basic, common sense standards – no surprises and no runarounds,” CFPB Director Richard Cordray said. “They would apply to all mortgage servicers regardless of how they are organized, including banks, thrifts, credit unions and nonbank servicers.” The rule, which will amend the Truth in Lending Act and Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, is required by the Dodd-Frank Act. The CFPB said it will publish a proposal ...
Webinars
Mortgage Beat
Industry Reports
Poll
Most Popular Stories
- Ocwen Officials Surprised by Nationstar Bids
- Flurry of Deals Scrambles Top Servicer Ranking In Early 2012, Nationstar to be Fourth Largest
- CFPB Taking on Origination Points and Fees
- Mortgage Originations Slow Modestly in Rapidly Changing Market of Early 2012
- Freddie Hires a New Chief Executive Officer and Other Things Affecting the GSEs
