The five big banks that are parties to the $25 billion national mortgage servicing settlement have granted more than $10 billion in consumer relief to borrowers – more than 80 percent of which took the form of short sales – between March 1 and June 30, 2012, according to a progress report from the Office of Mortgage Settlement Oversight. “Overall, 137,846 borrowers received some type of consumer relief during this period totaling $10.56 billion, which, on average, represents about $76,615 per borrower,”...

The U.S. Department of Justice showed its willingness to go after relative unknowns as well as the name brands in reaching a multi-million-dollar “pattern or practice” fair lending settlement with GFI Mortgage Bankers Inc., the mortgage banking unit of GFI Capital Resources Group that funds roughly $1 billion in residential mortgage loans annually. The federal government alleged that GFI engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination by charging qualified African-American and Hispanic borrowers more for their...

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has extended the comment period for proposed changes that would create a new, higher “all in” annual percentage rate calculation and establish a new high-cost mortgage coverage test. Comments on the changes were proposed July 9 along with extensive revisions to the Truth in Lending Act and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act rules and disclosures. In its July 9 notice, the CFPB requested comment on, among other things, proposed changes to Regulation Z (TILA) to implement amendments...

Leonard Chanin, assistant director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Office of Regulations, where he is essentially the CFPB's chief rule writer, is leaving the bureau to return to private practice with the law firm of Morrison & Foerster, where he once practiced for many years. It's a big loss for the bureau, which prides itself on attracting many qualified and passionate individuals who want to make a difference by opting for a career in public service. Alan Kaplinsky, the practice leader of the...

The blowback over yield-spread premiums and subprime mortgages continued in Lee v. Countrywide Home Loans, Inc., in which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has determined that a lender – in this case, Countrywide Home Loans, and by extension, parent Bank of America – may be liable under state common law claims of civil conspiracy for failing to disclose fees paid to a mortgage broker. This subprime mortgage case was brought by the borrowers (the Lees) against the lender (Countrywide), its parent company (Bank of...

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has asked the Office of Management and Budget for a generic clearance to collect information on compliance costs and the other effects of regulations – something the American Bankers Association and the Consumer Bankers Association said they oppose. Back in June, the CFPB published a notice in the Federal Register about its plans “to collect qualitative information from industry participants regarding the compliance costs and other effects on providers and consumers...

The Multi-State Mortgage Committee of the Conference of State Bank Supervisors and the American Association of Residential Mortgage Regulators released its 2011 annual report and 2012/2013 outlook.Among its 2011 accomplishments, the MMC implemented its Limited Scope Electronic examination process to increase examination efficiencies, participated in the state-federal mortgage servicer settlement, and submitted a white paper to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on the differences between the Real Estate...

U.S. Congress. Lawmakers Return Next Week. The U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives are slated to convene at 2 p.m. Monday, Sept. 10. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. New Senior Counsel Comes on Board. Chris Lipsett is joining the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as senior counsel in the office of the director. Lipsett was previously a partner in the law firm of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, where his practice focused on regulatory, compliance, counseling, litigation, and transactional matters...

Fannie Mae recently added Nationstar Mortgage, PHH Mortgage, Seterus and Green Tree Servicing to the list of its top performing servicers for the first half of 2012. They join Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, GMAC Mortgage and EverBank in the government-sponsored enterprise’s Peer Group One as the largest firms with the highest scores. “Fannie Mae wants servicers to be responsive to homeowners who are struggling and work with them to prevent as many foreclosures as possible,” said Leslie Peeler, Fannie’s...

The Department of Housing and Urban Development appears to have lost a round in its fight to bring an alleged FHA defrauder to justice. HUD suffered a setback recently after U.S. District Judge Gray Miller in Houston granted declaratory relief to Allied Home Mortgage Corp. (AHMC) to challenge HUD’s suspension of the lender’s authority to originate and underwrite FHA-insured loans. The Houston-based lender contends that HUD acted capriciously and arbitrarily without due process of law. It based these claims on ...