Progressive Democrats helped derail housing-finance reform legislation in the last Congress because they thought affordable housing provisions weren’t rigorous enough. It’s clear that issue will be key in the renewed reform effort taking shape in the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, along with another matter that was mostly overlooked in 2014: mortgage servicing. Late in the panel’s hearing on reform last week, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-MA, made clear that affordable housing will be an issue. “There’s an affordable housing crisis in this country pushing homeownership below 64 percent,” she said, adding that it’s also put a strain on rental units. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-OH, the ranking minority member of the panel, said...
Compliance issues involving nonbank servicers remain an ongoing problem, according to new reports from state regulators. And the regulators raised concerns about how a shift by lenders to purchase mortgages increases compliance risks. “The increase in transfers of mortgage servicing rights to non-depositories in recent years has stressed these servicers’ sometimes inadequate operating systems and infrastructures, requiring greater regulatory attention,” the Multi-State Mortgage Committee said in a report to state regulators. The MMC was established by state regulators to supervise multi-state nonbank mortgage entities. Eight mortgage-related exams were...
Mortgage lenders will not be subject to supervisory or enforcement actions for violations of the early implementation guidance for the revised 2016 mortgage servicing rule, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The CFPB issued “non-binding” policy guidance last week to allay lenders’ fear of being penalized if they fail to implement the 2016 servicing amendments up to three days early, said industry attorneys. Issued in August last year, parts of the rules take effect on Oct. 16, 2017, and April 16, 2018. Technically, the “relief” applies...
The Federal Housing Finance Agency proposed minor revisions to its single-family and multifamily housing goals for 2018 through 2020 to push Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to continue helping low-income borrowers. The FHFA acknowledged that Fannie and Freddie are challenged when it comes to making credit available for the low-income market. Both government-sponsored enterprises have fallen short of the market in the low-income and very low-income purchase goal almost every year since 2013, the regulator noted. Most of the single-family goals would remain...[Includes one data table]
“In a normal [commercial] bank acquisition, senior managers usually get a big payday,” said former FHLBank Chicago President Alex Pollock. “But in this case, if you merge [with another FHLB] you could lose your job.”
The rating service said investors should have access to the reviewer’s findings or access to other information that would help determine if a breach should be pursued.
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