The consensus among political observers is that last week’s big Republican wave on Election Day will result in a lot more political bluster from critics of the CFPB on Capitol Hill. However, it’s unlikely to have enough short-term intensity or long-term staying power to effect any big changes that could get past the veto pen of a strongly supportive President Barack Obama. “While there may be a push for the elimination of the CFPB, such a change is highly unlikely given the [Obama] administration’s support for the bureau,” the American Bankers Association said in a post-election analysis. “Expect increased scrutiny in the Senate on the CFPB’s proposals and a continued push to change the structure of the CFPB from a ...

Total mortgage-related complaints filed by borrowers with the CFPB dropped again in the third quarter of 2014, the fifth drop in the last six quarters, according to a new analysis by Inside the CFPB. Data contained in the CFPB’s consumer complaint database show that such consumer gripes fell 17.6 percent in the third quarter of the year, and were down 23.6 percent from the same period in 2013. Total mortgage complaints have been trending downward since they peaked at 15,239 in the first quarter of 2013. Third quarter 2014 grumblings came to 8,995. A closer inspection of the data reveals that consumer gripes about their home loans are down across the board [With two exclusive data charts] ...

Numerous mortgage banking trade groups from across the U.S. urged the Conference of State Bank Supervisors to hold off on making changes to the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System mortgage call report (MCR) until after the CFPB’s Home Mortgage Disclosure Act rulemaking is final and the bureau’s integrated disclosures have been implemented. The MCR proposal, released Oct. 1, 2014, would expand the current data collected to create a new definition of “application,” and it would require reporting on the amount and count of closed loans classified as qualified mortgages under the CFPB’s ability-to-repay rule.Further, the proposal would require additional nationwide and state-specific servicing reporting, along with additional fields to capture changes in loan amount between the time of application and ...

There are a host of legal land mines that mortgage lenders must avoid if they want to keep from becoming the target of a CFPB enforcement action under its unfair, deceptive or abusive acts or practices (UDAAP) authority, according to top legal experts. Andrea Mitchell, a partner with the BuckleySandler law firm, told attendees at an Inside Mortgage Finance webinar last week that there are a number of representations lenders should stay away from in their marketing pitches. “Say what you mean and mean what you say,” Mitchell said. She then rattled off a list of potentially problematic terms to avoid, such as “free” or “no cost,” “best rates available,” “fastest” or “faster than…,” “improve/repair your credit” or “eliminate your ...

Castle & Cooke Mortgage late last month filed a motion to dismiss a putative class-action brought by one of the aggrieved parties who had already been compensated under the terms of the settlement the lender reached late last year with the CFPB. In Luis Cabrales v. Castle & Cooke Mortgage LLC, plaintiff Luis Cabrales contends that the lender improperly compensated its loan officers by giving them bonuses for putting customers in more expensive loans than what they qualified for. The plaintiff sued for violation of the Truth in Lending Act – a claim that Castle & Cooke is not challenging at this point. However, Cabrales also brought other causes of action: violation of Section 8 of the Real Estate Settlement Practices ...

The MBS gain was lopsided: Ginnie MBS issuance jumped 10.8 percent from September to October, while Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac suffered declines.

Initially, the jury awarded $514,000 in compensatory damages from PHH Mortgage and $15.7 million in punitive damages.

New issuance of agency single-family MBS climbed for the eighth consecutive month in October, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS analysis and ranking. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae issued a total of $93.01 billion of new single-family MBS during October, up 2.1 percent from September. October production was the highest monthly volume for the market since October 2013, and reflected steady growth since new issuance bottomed out in March of this year. But the gain was...[Includes two data charts]

Meanwhile, Redwood posted $45.0 million of net income in the third quarter of 2014, almost triple of what it earned in 2Q.

As Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac continue to expand their credit-risk transactions, the two government-sponsored enterprises and their regulator should look to other ways to minimize credit risk, industry insiders told attendees of an Urban Institute/CoreLogic housing forum this week. In its most recent strategic plan for the GSEs, the Federal Housing Finance Agency is calling on Fannie and Freddie to reduce their exposure to risk by tripling the amount of credit-risk transfers they conduct on their single-family business from $30 billion last year to $90 billion in 2014. Mark Hanson, Freddie’s senior vice president, securitization, told...