The consent decree which certain mortgage servicers have reportedly agreed to draws heavily from an earlier draft of comprehensive measures developed by federal banking regulators to improve foreclosure policies and practices. The provisions in the draft, which had been ready as early as February, compel servicers to...
Federally regulated banks and credit unions favor Republican-backed legislation that would install a commission, instead of a single director, to call the shots at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The majority of witnesses at a recent hearing called by the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit expressed their support for...
A conflict of interest exists if an employee of a federal credit union disapproves member loans and then refers them to a mortgage banker that pays for such referrals, according to the National Credit Union Administration. Not only would there be a potential violation of the NCUA’s lending policy but the referral arrangements may also violate...
The Federal Reserve Board’s loan originator compensation rule is finally in effect after lawsuits filed by mortgage broker trade groups failed to stop the rule in its tracks. In a terse, one-page decision, the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit lifted a temporary stay order against...
Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council. Revised Interagency Exam Procedures for Regulation Z (TILA). Notwithstanding court petitions seeking to stop the implementation of a new loan originator compensation rule, the Federal Reserve Board announced revised examination procedures that will ensure...
The Department of Housing and Urban Affairs has declared April Fair Housing Month as it launched a nationwide media campaign to commemorate the Fair Housing Act. The Fair Housing Act was enacted 43 years ago this April to protect minorities and other groups from housing discrimination. The FHAct prohibits...
Congress explicitly exempted FHA and Department of Veterans Affairs loans from the definition of “qualified residential mortgage” in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. While those government loans will not be subject to the risk-retention requirements for mortgage securitizations, the proposed QRM safe harbor for... [Includes one graph]
The package of government-sponsored enterprise reform legislation introduced into the House Financial Services Committee last week dominated headlines, but sources on Capitol Hill said forthcoming legislation will also aim to tighten FHA underwriting in some manner, continuing to protect the program’s...
Originations of FHA-insured mortgages declined in early 2011, and February’s total was the lowest in nearly three years. Overall mortgage market lending dropped in the fourth quarter last year, and the industry is in the throes of reforming the system while trying to urge back the private sector. The $15.0 billion in... [Includes one data chart and one graph]
All FHA-insured mortgages made after April 18 will face higher annual premiums, the latest fee structure change in a series of adjustments over the past year. Early indications from Department of Housing and Urban Development data show that the measures have begun to accomplish both of the agency’s goals – to shore up...
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