The CFPB and the other members of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council last week issued new examiner transaction testing guidelines for all financial institutions that report under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act. The rules will apply to the examination of HMDA data collected starting in 2018 and reported beginning in 2019. The guidelines eliminate the file-error resubmission threshold under which a financial institution would have to correct and resubmit its entire Loan Application Register (LAR) if the total number of sample files with at least one error reached or exceeded a certain threshold, the bureau said. They also establish allowable tolerances for certain data fields for the purpose of counting errors toward the field-error resubmission threshold.Additionally, they provide ...

The CFPB just made life a little harder for lenders that provide Home Equity Conversion Mortgages, otherwise known as reverse mortgages. Last week, the bureau put out a report warning older borrowers about taking out such a loan in order to bridge the gap in income while delaying Social Security benefits until a later age. “A reverse mortgage loan can help some older homeowners meet financial needs, but can also jeopardize their retirement if not used carefully,” said CFPB Director Richard Cordray. “For consumers whose main asset is their home, taking out a reverse mortgage to delay Social Security claiming may risk their financial security because the cost of the loan will likely be more than the benefit they gain.” ...

Campaign for Accountability, a self-styled watchdog organization, recently filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the CFPB to find out what actions the agency has taken to hold Clayton Homes and its mortgage lending subsidiary, Vanderbilt Mortgage, accountable for alleged predatory lending practices.Clayton Homes, based in Maryville, TN, is one of the nation’s largest mobile home sellers, and is owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway. Said Campaign for Accountability Executive Director Daniel Stevens: “Clayton Homes appears to have been preying on some of our most vulnerable citizens. As the company expands its footprint to reach more Americans, it is imperative to know whether the government found any wrongdoing and, if so, what actions were taken.” The watchdog group...

In the age of the CFPB, mortgage servicers have been walking a tightrope, balancing regulatory compliance with borrower satisfaction, sometimes getting stung by an enforcement action. This year, they are falling behind the curve in terms of their customers, according to the results of the 2017 U.S. Primary Mortgage Servicing Satisfaction Study from J.D. Power. “CFPB servicing regulations now in place are resulting in intense scrutiny as well as major fines for some institutions during the first waves of enforcement,” the data, analytics and advisory services provider said. “With other state and federal agencies, such as the Department of Justice and state attorneys generals, also taking actions against mortgage servicers for servicing practices, many experts expect intense regulatory scrutiny to ...

There may be plenty of uncertainty about the direction of the CFPB these days, given that Republicans are calling the shots on Capitol Hill and at the White House, plus the fact that Richard Cordray’s days as director of the bureau are numbered, regardless of when he actually ends up departing. Still, mortgage servicers can continue to expect robust supervision and regulation – and enforcement –if not from the bureau, then from another federal regulator, as well the states, and maybe all of the above, according to Steven Frie and Mark Shannon, top servicer analysts at S&P Global Ratings. “It’s been pretty common knowledge that the CFPB has been very active in regards to regulating the mortgage servicing industry,” Frie said ...

The vast majority of Fannie buyback activity involves loans sold into MBS issued since 2015…

“Before a loan closes there will need to be [property] reinspections,” said Pete Mills, senior vice president of residential policy and member engagement for MBA.

Mortgages in the deal were originated by a variety of lenders, none of which were identified…

Pollock criticized the Treasury Department’s decision to pay off $13.5 billion of subordinate GSE debt at the start of the conservatorships nine years ago...

The day before, Cherry Creek Mortgage issued a statement saying it would extend health care benefits to cover same-sex couples “effective immediately.”