Some believe the FHA MMIF minimum capital standard should be 4.5 percent, not 2.0 percent.

With the mortgage lending industry’s use of marketing services agreements under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act likely hanging in the balance, the CFPB detailed its anti-kickback legal arguments against PHH Corp. and its mortgage units in its “reply” brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, filed earlier this month. In PHH Corp., et al., v. CFPB, the first main argument the bureau made is that PHH violated RESPA Section 8(a) because it entered into agreements with mortgage insurers so that whenever an insurer received a referral from PHH, the insurer paid PHH a kickback in the form of premiums for mortgage reinsurance. “PHH thus committed a separate violation every time it accepted a kickback ...

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency informed lenders recently it will soon start examining banks for their compliance with the Truth in Lending Act and Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act Integrated Disclosure rule, and issued some updated guidance to help institutions get ready. In OCC Bulletin 2015-42, the agency said during initial examinations for compliance with the rule, OCC examiners will be evaluating a bank’s compliance management system and overall efforts to come into compliance, “recognizing the scope and scale of changes necessary for each bank to achieve effective compliance.”Further, the OCC said, “Examiners expect banks to make good faith efforts to comply with the rule’s requirements in a timely manner. Specifically, examiners are considering the bank’s ...

The CFPB continues to see a host of noncompliance issues with mortgage lenders – but some notable improvement on the servicing side of the industry too. According to the CFPB’s latest supervisory highlights report, the bureau cited a range of problems lenders are having originating mortgages. For instance, regulators saw evidence of failing to fully comply with the requirement that charges at settlement not exceed amounts on the good faith estimate by more than specified tolerances. Some lenders also are failing to fully comply with requirements for completion of HUD-1 settlement statements, to provide homeownership counseling disclosures, or to provide accurate loan servicing disclosure statements. Other lenders are not complying with consumer financial information privacy requirements, the report indicated. In other ...

Consumer complaints about debt collectors appear to be improving somewhat, according to the latest analysis by Inside the CFPB of data submitted to the bureau. Gripes were down 9.4 percent during the third quarter, but off a barely perceptible 0.3 percent at the nine-month mark versus a year ago. Many of the top 50 companies ranked by number of complaints saw drops of double digits during the period ending Sept. 30, 2015, whereas a handful of companies saw consumer grumbling rise by triple digits year over year. In some instances, however, both dynamics occurred at the same company, the data show.Complaints about collection attempts were the leading consumer criticism, followed by disclosure verification and communication tactics. Supervisory Illustrations On...

Buyer Agents Report Delays in Closing, Thanks to TRID. One month into the CFPB’s Truth in Lending Act/Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act Integrated Disclosure (TRID) rule, some real estate closings are already being affected, according to a recent survey conducted by the National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents. The survey went out to brokers across the U.S. and nearly 20 percent said they are already seeing issues, mostly delays in closing. According to one respondent, “Lenders are almost all asking for 45 days to closing versus the previous 30 days.” Another respondent stated, “We’ve been advised to prepare for further delays until everyone has more experience with the new CFPB/TRID regulations.” “At NAEBA, we applaud the CFPB for its efforts ...

Are Home Builders Next on the CFPB’s MSA Hit List? Lender anxiety tied to the CFPB’s crackdown on marketing services agreements is reaching a new fever pitch these days, while spreading to other sectors of the housing finance industry, namely home builders and Realtors. Industry officials interviewed by Inside Mortgage Finance, an affiliated newsletter, recently said title insurance affiliates owned by Realtors and home builders are a particular area of concern – namely pushing customers into using service providers in which they have an ownership stake. “I’ll tell you where the RESPA [Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act] violation is – it’s pressing customers into using their title company,” said one trade group executive. “The idea is that the consumer gets to pick ...

Jumbo mortgages have provided commercial banks and thrifts with good profits margins. Of course, it helps that deposit rates are almost non-existent.

The loans to be included in the deal are similar to the types of mortgages that have been included in jumbo MBS issued in recent years.

Mortgage lenders are more willing to expand the credit box for FHA borrowers, but they appear to be getting more cautious about FHA lending, according to a new Inside FHA/VA Lending analysis of Ginnie Mae mortgage-backed securities data. Over two thirds of FHA loans securitized in the first nine months of 2015 had credit scores below 700, and 6.2 percent of them had scores of 620 or lower. By comparison, 47.0 percent of VA loans were below 700 and just 4.4 percent were in the lowest category. But FHA lenders became more cautious as the year wore on. In the first quarter, 6.8 percent of FHA loans had scores of 620 or lower. That fell to just 6.0 percent in the third quarter. The FHA purchase-mortgage sector skews even further away from the riskiest borrowers and toward safer ground. The share of FHA purchase loans with scores of 620 or lower fell from 5.8 percent in the first ... [ 2 charts ]