Loan underwriters who claimed they were improperly classified as exempt and thereby wrongfully denied overtime pay lost on appeal after a federal appeals court determined they were administrative employees “helping run or service a business” as opposed to engaging in loan production. The ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit stands in stark contrast to the Second Circuit’s 2009 opinion in a similar case, which held that underwriters are administrative workers who are eligible for overtime pay if they engage in production activities, industry attorneys said. In Lutz v. Huntington Bancshares, Inc., the bank’s underwriters primarily reviewed...
Republicans on the House Financial Services Committee are working on a regulatory relief bill as an alternative to the Dodd-Frank Act, many of the regulatory provisions of which have yet to be promulgated more than five years after enactment. Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-TX, chairman of the committee, made the announcement and revealed some of the details earlier this week during a government relations event sponsored by the American Bankers Association in Washington, DC. “I can report...
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has not changed its “corrective and diagnostic” supervisory and enforcement approach towards the industry’s implementation of the integrated disclosure rule known as TRID, and does not expect to bring any enforcement action any time soon unless there is blatant misconduct, CFPB Director Richard Cordray told members of Congress this week. Whether mortgage lenders get any additional, official clarification or guidance from the agency to help with their compliance and litigation concerns is another matter. During a hearing Wednesday of the House Financial Services Committee, Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-MO, engaged...
Appraisals aren’t causing significant closing problems for purchase-mortgage lending, although there are issues as home prices increase, according to responses to the latest Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey. “Appraisals are mostly in line with contract prices,” said Tom Popik, research director for Campbell Surveys. “However, appraisals for FHA mortgages and VA mortgages more often miss the contract price than appraisals for conventional mortgages.” Appraised home prices have tended...
Loan performance for mortgages modified more than five years ago has been relatively stable even as the loans face higher scheduled interest rates. Analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch said payment shock has been limited and servicers appear to be postponing increases for some borrowers. Loans in the Home Affordable Modification Program have a fixed rate as low as 2.00 percent for the first five years, then the interest rate typically increases in steps of 1.00 percent per year until reaching the average market rate that was in effect at the time the mortgage was modified. Many proprietary mortgages, which outnumber HAMP, have similar features. Non-agency mortgages with a total unpaid principal balance of about $33.0 billion experienced...
Opendoor, an online real estate start-up, unveiled a new service this week that lets sellers trade-in one home for another one instead of watching it sit on the market or being forced to juggle two mortgages. The San Francisco-based company launched the program in Phoenix and Dallas with a goal to make buying and selling a home “as simple as trading in a car.” Once sellers find a new home, they go to the Opendoor website, decide on their closing date, and the company will take it from there, including dealing with the new home’s real estate agent along with the title and escrow. To simplify the transaction, the company doesn’t...
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