A union representing CFPB employees recently asked the agency to halt the reorganization of the fair lending office, alleging the bureau did not bargain with the union in good faith. The reorganization was announced in January, but the CFPB is still negotiating the matter with the National Treasury Employees Union. The NTEU in late October filed a mass grievance against the CFPB over its handling of racially tinged blogs posted by Eric Blankenstein

The CFPB’s information security program has improved in the past year with more effective incident responses to detected cybersecurity events, according to a recent report from the bureau’s Office of Inspector General. On a scale of one to five, the CFPB’s overall information security program is operating at a level three or “consistently implemented.” Several activities are being performed at a higher level, according to the OIG. The major improvement ...

The CFPB’s recent complaint snapshot report hinted at a possible focus of the upcoming debt collection rules, said attorneys. Credit reporting, debt collection, and mortgage continued to be the three categories that drew the most consumer complaints, according to the report. Among public gripes regarding debt collection practices, some 40 percent said companies “attempt to collect debt not owed.” It is a significant trend, said attorneys, because Acting CFPB Director Mick Mulvaney ...

An Illinois-based mortgage company will pay $1.2 million in restitution to consumers after a state investigation found a company’s branch manager defrauded consumers. Diamond Residential Mortgage Corp., Lake Forest, IL, recently settled with Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, resolving a mortgage fraud allegation. Diamond’s Springfield branch manager, Chris Schaller ...

Former CFPB Director Loses in the Ohio Governor’s Race. Former CFPB Director Richard Cordray lost in the Ohio governor’s race last week. Republican Attorney General Mike DeWine led a GOP sweep of statewide nonjudicial offices. In his campaign, Cordray boasted of his record reining in Wall Street during his tenure at the CFPB. He worked as the CFPB director from its inception until 2017, when he quit to run for governor of the Buckeye State [Includes four briefs] ...

Fannie Mae’s last Connecticut Avenue Securities credit-risk transfer transaction of the year featured its first use of a structure geared toward attracting more investors. CAS Series 2018-R07, a $922 million offering, is Fannie’s first risk-transfer deal involving a real estate mortgage investment conduit (REMIC). Both Fannie and Freddie see REMICs as a key to unlocking greater participation by real estate investment trusts and offshore investors. Freddie issued its first CRT using a REMIC ...

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shareholders in a class action suit are urging U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth to reject the government’s request to reconsider his opinion. On Sept. 28, Royce ruled that the Treasury sweep breached an implied covenant of good faith. That ruling paved the way for shareholders to continue their case against the government. But the Federal Housing Finance Agency and the GSEs are challenging that ruling. They filed a motion on Oct. 15 asking for ...

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s annual report on housing showed that Freddie Mac fell short of meeting two of its four single-family affordable housing goals for 2017. The GSE came close but didn’t meet the low-income and very low-income purchase goals. The low-income goal was 24.0 percent and Freddie came in at 23.2 percent. The very low-income purchase target was 6.0 percent and Freddie was at 5.7 percent. The FHFA recently notified Freddie of the shortage ...

More needs to be done to incorporate affordable rental units into all geographic areas, according to Freddie Mac, which released a series of white papers last week focusing on the underserved multifamily housing markets. The GSE is publishing a total of eight papers as part of its duty-to-serve initiative to bring the issue of affordable apartments to the forefront. One of the papers explored how state housing finance agencies help guide low-income housing tax credit investment to high-income ...

Deal structure – everything from pre-issuance loan reviews to enforcement mechanisms when things go wrong – vary significantly in the non-agency MBS market, experts noted at the Structured Finance Industry Group’s recent residential mortgage conference in New York.