CFPB Director Richard Cordray unapologetically defended his agency’s big move into the data collection sphere against complaints from skeptical Republicans during a hearing recently before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee. Sen. Mike Crapo, R-ID, ranking member of the committee, got this ball rolling by citing a recent press account that the CFPB has allocated more than $20 million for collecting and tracking customer credit card and spending habits for more than 10 million Americans. “The size of this data...

With the CFPB still such a relative babe in the woods as far as being a federal financial regulator, the mortgage lending industry has plenty of uncertainty to contend with when it comes to expectations about the bureau examining for fair lending compliance. “While the CFPB may be the new regulator in town, its supervisory staff comes, in large part, from those who participated in fair lending examinations for the OCC or the FRB or the FDIC or OTS or the FTC,” said Dr. Marsha Courchane, vice president and practice leader of...

Representatives of banks and credit unions urged the CFPB to amend its proposed rule on mandatory escrow accounts for higher-priced mortgage loans, including expanding the definitions of ‘rural’ and ‘underserved’ areas, which are the criteria for locales where banks are exempt from the escrow rule, as well as rules related to balloon payments and qualified mortgages. Under the January 2013 rule, small creditors that meet certain loan and asset limits and that operate predominately in rural or underserved areas will be exempt from...

The National Association of Federal Credit Unions is calling upon the leadership of the House Financial Services Committee to support legislation that would revise the definition of ‘points and fees’ used to determine what is a qualified mortgage under the CFPB’s ability-to-repay rule. H.R. 1077, the “Consumer Mortgage Choice Act,” was introduced by Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-MI, in March. The legislation would make it easier for consumers to qualify for QM loans at a lower rate by changing the definition of points and fees as it applies...

The CFPB rulemaking is facing another legislative challenge from Capitol Hill, this time from H.R. 1750, the Community Lending Enhancement and Regulatory Relief Act. Introduced late last month by Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-MO, H.R. 1750 would enable community banks to raise capital more easily and exempt institutions with less than $10 billion in assets from federal mortgage escrow requirements. It also would exempt institutions with less than $10 billion in assets from qualified mortgage requirements if the institution keeps a...

In late April, the CFPB issued a final rule governing the administration of its Civil Penalty Fund, along with proposed revisions to that rule. Among the highlights of the final rule is that a victim is eligible for payment from the fund if a final order in a bureau enforcement action imposed a civil penalty for the violation or violations that harmed the victim. That means that payments from the fund would only be made to compensate victims for the harms they suffered from a violation for which penalties were...

Late last month, members and staff of the Mortgage Bankers Association met with key personnel from the CFPB to highlight ongoing concerns with aspects of the bureau’s ability-to-repay, qualified mortgage rulemaking. Some of the issues the organization raised with the regulators were not dealt with by the bureau’s recent proposed clarifications, including questions about loan originator compensation. Currently, LO compensation to individual originator employees is factored into the calculation of the QM’s three...

The top compliance concerns for lenders stem from CFPB mandates such as the combined Truth in Lending and Good Faith Estimate disclosure form, as well as other bureau-related rulemakings, according to the seventh annual compliance survey from Laguna Hills, CA-based QuestSoft, a provider of automated compliance software and services to the mortgage, banking and credit union industries. The combined TILA/GFE rules ranked as the highest concern among lenders, with 58.8 percent citing it as a high concern, followed by as-yet-undefined...

Rep. Gary Miller, R-CA, and two other members of the House recently introduced the Preserving Access to Manufactured Housing Act, legislation they said will ensure that new regulations released earlier this year by the CFPB to address high-cost mortgage loans do not further hinder the availability of mortgage credit for manufactured homes. Miller said the concern is, without their legislation, financing options for manufactured housing would be greatly limited, leaving thousands of manufactured home customers...

Nevada Bill Would Conflict With CFPB Servicing Rules. Last week, the Mortgage Bankers Association wrote members of the Nevada Assembly Judiciary Committee to warn that state Senate Bill 321, which would enact state-specific mortgage servicing rules, would conflict with the CFPB’s comprehensive, national servicing rules that were finalized in January. S.B. 321 would, among other things, authorize a defendant in a judicial foreclosure action to elect mediation...