A number of recent headline-generating fair lending settlements may have focused largely on issues of pricing disparities, but there has been a sea change among policymakers these days moving in the direction of greater access to mortgage credit, some industry experts say. During an Inside Mortgage Finance webinar this week, Jeffrey Naimon, a partner in the Washington, DC, office of the BuckleySandler law firm, said the industry is seeing a pendulum swing from the focal point of concern being loan pricing to loan access. “Especially during the time when subprime loans were available, there was a lot of concern that minority borrowers were being steered into higher-cost subprime loans,” he told attendees. “The adoption of the loan originator compensation rule by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau affected...
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency announced last week that six banks subject to servicing-related consent orders established in 2011 will face new restrictions because the banks haven’t met all of the requirements in those orders. The restrictions were particularly harsh for Wells Fargo, the industry’s largest servicer. Wells handled $1.72 trillion in servicing as of the end of the first quarter of 2015, accounting for 17.5 percent of the servicing market, according to Inside Mortgage Finance. Until the consent order is terminated by the OCC, Wells will be prevented...
Lenders are generally supportive of the FHA’s recently issued guidance explaining how the agency intends to categorize loan defects found in FHA single-family mortgages. At the same time, some observers find the guidance disappointing because it offers no protection for lenders against costly false claims lawsuits. The loan-defect assessment methodology or “defect taxonomy” was first unveiled in September 2014 as part of the Blueprint for Access that FHA hopes will expand access to credit by underserved consumers and first-time homebuyers. In particular, the new taxonomy will complement the updated loan-certification language used by direct-endorsement lenders to warrant compliance with FHA rules and the new Single Family Policy Handbook to create a stronger quality assurance program, according to Edward Golding, principal deputy assistant secretary for housing. The taxonomy has...
Nonbank mortgage lenders accounted for 43.3 percent of the total originations produced by the top 100 lenders during the first quarter of 2015, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance ranking and analysis. That was up from a 42.7 percent share of production by the top 100 in the fourth quarter of 2014 and a 38.0 percent share a year ago. The 48 nonbanks that ranked in the top 100 originators had a combined $133.35 billion in first-quarter production, up 13.0 percent from the fourth quarter. Banks and thrifts still play...[Includes one data table]
The sale of RoundPoint Mortgage Servicing has fallen apart with the bidder walking away from the table, according to industry advisors close to the transaction. Sources indicate that Tavistock Group, the owner of the nation’s 24th largest servicer, still has an interest in finding a buyer for the servicer/lender, but for now no deal is imminent. Tavistock bills itself as an international private-equity firm with a strong interest in finance, real estate and other sectors. The firm is headquartered in the Bahamas. An advisor close to the transaction declined...
Basel III capital requirements for mortgage servicing assets started to take effect in the first quarter of 2015, with full implementation slated for 2018. Smaller banks were impacted by new servicing capital rules much more so than larger banks in the first quarter, according to industry analysts. Previously, a bank’s servicing could contribute up to 50 percent of a bank’s total capital. Under the new Basel framework, mortgage servicing assets are limited to 10 percent of a bank’s common equity Tier 1 capital. MSA in excess of the 10 percent threshold must be deducted from common equity. “Despite the fact that changes to servicing capitalization have been telegraphed to the market as early as 2010, a disproportionate number of small banks appear...
Most segments of the mortgage industry were relieved to get a two-month reprieve from the effective date of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s integrated disclosures rule under the Truth in Lending Act and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act. The bureau this week formally proposed to move the effective date of the controversial new rule from Aug. 1 to Oct. 3. The CFPB said some delay is necessary because it was late in notifying Congress and the Government Accountability Office within 60 days of the rule’s effective date, as is required by the Congressional Review Act. Many in the mortgage industry still want...
The MBA took particular aim at the proposed enhanced standards for large nonbank servicers, noting that such firms are already subject to extensive regulation from the GSEs and others.
RSS