The CFPB and the Federal Housing Finance Agency jointly released two technical reports recently about the development of the National Mortgage Database (NMDB) and the quarterly National Survey of Mortgage Borrowers (NSMB). The NMDB project is a multi-year project being jointly undertaken by the two agencies. “The project is designed to provide a rich source of information about the U.S. mortgage market based on a five percent sample of residential mortgages,” the first technical report stated. The NMDB will enable the FHFA to meet current statutory requirements to conduct a national mortgage market survey, collect data on the characteristics of individual mortgages, including those eligible for purchase by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and those that are not, and including ...

FDIC Official Calls for Broader QM Parameters. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Vice Chairman Thomas Hoenig recently came out in support of congressional legislation to expand the kinds of loans that can be deemed qualified mortgages under the CFPB’s ability-to-repay rule. However, with Congress coming back from its annual August recess this week, the biggest hurdle facing such measures may be whether lawmakers feel enough urgency to act by year’s end. Among other provisions, Hoenig called for mortgages held in portfolios of certain banks to be defined as QMs and receive the protections established by the bureau for such mortgages. To qualify, under Hoenig’s proposal, banks would have to be “more traditional” institutions that emphasize the core commercial banking model and ...

FCC Order Conflicts With CFPB Mortgage Servicing Rules, Other Foreclosure Prevention Efforts, Industry Group Says. A recent order from the Federal Communications Commission clarifying certain provisions of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act clashes with the CFPB’s mortgage servicing rule and other federal regulations designed to help struggling homeowners hold onto their homes, a representative of national mortgage lenders, servicers and service providers wrote top government officials last week. The FCC’s order, released June 18, 2015, aims to bolster consumer protections against unwanted telephone calls and texts by, in part, restricting the ability of mortgage servicers, debt collectors and others to make autodialed or prerecorded phone calls without prior express consent of the person called. Violators face strict liability for noncompliance...

M&T Bank Settles Allegations It Used ‘Neighborhood Racial Criteria’ for Mortgage Product. A court approved M&T Bank's settlement with the Fair Housing Justice Center under which the Buffalo, NY-based bank will pay $485,000 while agreeing to revise its residential origination policies. The nonprofit FHJC filed a lawsuit in February after investigating the bank’s “Get Started Program.” The mortgage product is aimed at homes in “majority minority” neighborhoods or in low- or moderate-income areas. The product is for first-time homebuyers and it allows for low downpayments and the ability to finance closing costs. The FHJC found that M&T loan officers discriminated against potential borrowers based on race and national origin, alleging violations of the Fair Housing Act. Among other issues, minority ...

Ginnie Mae had the smallest decline of the three agencies as new issuance slid 4.7 percent from July.

Besides being in charge of retail and correspondent lending, DeVito will oversee sales, operations, quality control, compliance, underwriting and support services.

If consent is unavailable, the phone call is impermissible, absent the use of technology the mortgage lending industry generally views as obsolete, such as a rotary or push-button telephone.

Lenders such as Sistar Mortgage of Michigan (licensed in 27 states) are still hiring.

New issuance of single-family agency MBS dropped sharply in August as production slowed across the board at Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae. A new Inside MBS & ABS analysis reveals that the three agencies produced $109.34 billion of single-family MBS during August, a 15.1 percent decline from July’s level. August 2015 was the slowest month since March, though it was 20.2 percent higher than a year ago. Freddie posted...[Includes three data tables]

Angel Oak Mortgage Solutions in Atlanta hopes to price its first-ever nonprime MBS sometime next week – a $150 million bond issued through Nomura Securities, a top Angel Oak executive told Inside MBS & ABS. Mike Fierman, managing partner and CEO of Angel Oak Companies, an affiliate of the lender, said officials have been on an investor road show the past week or so, crisscrossing the country. “Investors love...