Judge Reggie Walton in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has rejected a Mortgage Bankers Association challenge to an “Administrator’s Interpretation” by the U.S. Department of Labor that loan officers in the mortgage banking industry generally do not qualify as exempt employees under the administrative exemption of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. The ruling, if left intact, is seen as a victory for mortgage loan officers and a loss for those that employ them. Last year, the MBA pressed for the court’s review of the 2010 Administrator’s Interpretation, asserting...

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau might be less than a month away from issuing its proposed rule and forms related to its project to combine and harmonize the disclosures consumer get when they’re wrapping up their mortgage loans. But that didn’t keep industry representatives from making another pitch of their various recommendations for improving the CFPB’s pending rule. Testifying during a hearing of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Insurance, Housing and Community Opportunity last week, Anne Canfield, executive director of the Consumer Mortgage Coalition,...

The conservative watchdog organization, Judicial Watch, has filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to obtain records detailing President Obama’s controversial appointment of the agency’s director, Richard Cordray.“Given the Obama administration’s penchant for secrecy, I am not at all surprised we have to file a lawsuit to obtain these records on this scandalous appointment,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “The Cordray appointment is an abuse of office that disregards the U.S. Constitution and the U.S. Senate’s role...

Nearly 6 in 10 mortgage modifications went 60 or more days delinquent 18 months following the date of their modification, according to a new study from TransUnion. The study only looked at loan modifiers and non-modifiers, with comparable VantageScore credit scores, who had originally been 120 or more days past due on their mortgage loans. It found the recidivism rate – the rate at which modified mortgages again went 60 or more days past due – was 41.9 percent 12 months after modification. After 18 months, that rate had risen to 59.1 percent. Arizona, California, Florida...

Maryland. Hope LoanPort recently launched the Maryland Mediation Portal, which it said was the first statewide mediation portal in the country. The portal enables all mediation participants, including the mortgage servicer, the state mediator, the housing counselor working with the homeowner, and the servicer’s foreclosure attorney, to more effectively communicate and exchange information required for a successful mediation. The initiative is a joint effort of Hope LoanPort and GMAC Mortgage, as well as Maryland’s Office of Administrative Hearings, the state Department of Labor,...

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.Key Leadership Positions Filled. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has filled a number of key leadership positions at the agency.Steven Antonakes, previously the CFPB’s assistant director of large bank supervision, will now serve as the associate director for supervision, enforcement and fair lending. Paul Sanford, who had been serving as chief of staff for large bank supervision, has succeeded Antonakes as acting assistant director. Len Kennedy, formerly general counsel and associate director, has been...

The Mortgage Bankers Association has been making a concerted push to get members of the U.S. House of Representatives to sign onto a bipartisan “Dear Colleague” letter to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that calls for a strong safe harbor in the definition of a qualified mortgage in the pending “ability to repay” rule. The letter is being circulated by Reps. Shelley Moore Capito, R-WV, and Brad Sherman, D-CA. A number of industry groups have asked the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to formally convene a panel as per the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act...

The mortgage finance industry has only had about a week or so to begin digesting the federal banking regulators’ proposal to implement the Basel III regulatory capital reforms and other changes mandated by the Dodd-Frank Act, but there are plenty of concerns that have arisen in just that short a space of time. “This is a substantial increase in the amount of capital that banks have to hold, and it requires not only more capital, it changes the quality and the composition of the capital,” said Carter McDowell, managing director and associate general counsel at the Securities Industry and Financial Markets...

Fueled by a pent-up gusher of refinance activity on deeply underwater mortgages, the Home Affordable Refinance Program appears on pace to set a new record high in the second quarter of 2012, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS analysis. Based on loan-level data through the midway point in June, securitization of HARP loans by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is expected to reach an estimated $53.3 billion in the second quarter. That would represent a 27.1 percent increase over the previous record, $42.0 billion, set in the first three months of this year. A big chunk of the increase is...(Includes two data charts)

The Federal Reserve surprised some analysts this week by taking a cautious path in its latest effort to stimulate employment growth, choosing to extend its Operation Twist bond-buying program until the end of 2012 by focusing on Treasuries. The Federal Open Market Committee “intends to purchase Treasury securities with remaining maturities of 6 years to 30 years at the current pace and to sell or redeem an equal amount of Treasury securities with remaining maturities of approximately 3 years or less,” the FOMC said after its two-day meeting this week. “This...(Includes one data chart)