Laurie Maggiano, servicing and secondary markets program manager at the CFPB, appeared at a recent forum on housing finance sponsored by the Urban Institute and CoreLogic and highlighted the most significant changes the bureau has made to its 2013 mortgage servicing rules. She began with requests for clarification that servicers themselves made of the CFPB. “There are clarifications that servicers can indeed enter into short-term repayment plans without collecting a complete application document for consumers,” Maggiano said. Also, there is now more flexibility for servicers to stop collecting documents for a particular loss mitigation option when it is evident the borrower is not a candidate for the option.Additionally, the bureau provides clarification on how servicers select a reasonable deadline ...

The CFPB’s final amendments to its 2013 mortgage servicing regulations will enhance the industry’s practices and benefit the non-agency residential mortgage-backed securities market, according to analysts with Moody’s Investors Service. On the other hand, costs are going to go up, and the brunt of that burden will be borne by smaller servicers. “The new CFPB rules set forth multiple timeline requirements, compliance to which will require servicers to implement several system changes,” the analysts said in a new report. “Such changes will likely result in increased automation of servicing processes that will improve overall efficiencies.” However, implementation costs are going to go up because servicers will have to update their technology and adjust staffing levels to meet the new requirements...

CFPB Proposes Changes to FOIA Procedures, Treatment of Information; Would Expand Disclosure of Confidential Supervisory Information to State AGs. The CFPB has proposed amendments to the procedures used by the public to obtain information from the bureau under the Freedom of Information Act, the Privacy Act of 1974, and in legal proceedings.... Bank of America Close to Fulfilling Settlement Obligations. Bank of America has conditionally fulfilled more than 91 percent of its obligation to provide $7 billion worth of consumer relief under the terms of its historic mortgage settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice and six states, according to Eric Green, the independent monitor of the agreement...

Only two of the top 10 banks as ranked by “servicing for others” have been in growth mode: PNC Bank and SunTrust.

Industry observers are weighing in on the redesigned Uniform Residential Loan Application, an industry standard that has largely remained the same for the past 20 years, until now. The GSEs published the new form last week to give lenders ample time to get familiar with it. The updated form won’t officially be in use until Jan. 1, 2018. The URLA is for single-family loans submitted to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mae, as well as mortgages insured by the FHA, VA or U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Housing Services. The redesigned form falls under the larger Federal Housing Finance Agency and GSE initiative to standardize single-family mortgage data in the U.S.

Price is paramount to buyers purchasing a mortgage company, but equally important is bringing over the salesforce – namely loan officers – and making sure they stay happy under the new owners. That’s one of many insights contained in a new “In-Focus” report from The Stratmor Group, a consulting firm that plies its trade in the M&A circuit as well as other sectors of the industry. “While the numbers and related analysis are fundamental to the negotiating process, there is an ...

The GSE buyback total was down 20.6 percent from the first quarter…

Although the new requirements could prompt an increase in costs, analysts said a new requirement aimed at increasing the number of times troubled borrowers are evaluated for loss mitigation will be particularly helpful in certain states…

HUD has been criticized by consumer advocates who feel the agency's NPL auctions have unfairly benefitted private equity firms and hedge funds at the expense of troubled borrowers.

Commercial banks and savings institutions are continuing their years-long flight from the volatile business of holding mortgage-servicing rights on their balance sheets, according to a new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis of call report data. At the end of June, banks and thrifts serviced $3.916 trillion of single-family mortgages for other investors, usually mortgage-backed securities trusts. That was down 2.1 percent from the previous quarter and ... [Includes one data chart]