Consumer complaints to the CFPB about their mortgages fell by 8.2 percent in the August to October 2016 period compared to the same time frame a year ago, according to a new report from the CFPB. The bureau registered 11,587 borrower gripes about mortgages during the August-October 2015 period, the agency’s latest monthly consumer complaint report indicates. One year later, that total had fallen to 10,642. Criticisms about virtual currency dropped even more, by 66.7 percent, and those related to prepaid accounts plunged further by 67.2 percent. That being said, mortgage complaints are still among the top three topics the bureau receives gripes about, after debt collection and credit reports. (With one data graph and two data charts.)
PHH Corp. has until Dec. 22, 2016, to respond to an order by the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals related to its battle with the CFPB over alleged violations of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act. The appeals court had directed the lender to reply to the bureau’s petition for an en banc rehearing of the recent ruling by a three-judge panel of the court. Back in October, the panel determined that two aspects of the CFPB’s structure – the dismissal of the director of the agency only for cause and the single directorship as opposed to a multi-member bipartisan commission – were unconstitutional. Additionally, the judges found in favor of the company’s arguments, among others, around the correct interpretations ...
Current and former Democrat members of Congress recently submitted a joint brief to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in support of an en banc rehearing in the PHH Corp. v. CFPB case, including Dodd-Frank drafters and supporters, such as one of the bill’s namesakes, former Rep. Barney Frank, along with Sen. Elizabeth Warren, both from Massachusetts. The lawmakers argued that this case presents “a question of exceptional importance” and requires an en banc rehearing because the three-judge panel’s decision restructures the CFPB in a way that conflicts with Congress’s legislative plan. “By severing the for-cause removal provision, the panel decision fundamentally altered the CFPB’s structure in a way that is at odds with Congress’s design and will undermine the ...
The CFPB last week fined three reverse mortgage lending companies for allegedly deceptive advertisements, including claiming that consumers could not lose their homes. The CFPB ordered American Advisors Group (Orange, CA), Reverse Mortgage Solutions (Houston), and Aegean Financial (El Segundo, CA) to cease their allegedly deceptive advertising practices, implement systems to ensure they are complying with all laws, and pay civil penalties. The bureau claimed that the companies ran ads that misrepresented that consumers could not lose their homes and that they would have the right to stay in their homes for the rest of their lives. The companies also were accused of falsely telling potential customers that they would have no monthly payments and that a reverse mortgage would ...
The TRID 2.0 clarifying rulemaking proposal fails to alleviate most of the concerns that investors in the secondary mortgage market have about their potential legal liability, according to Pacific Investment Management Company. In its recent comment letter to the CFPB, PIMCO noted, “In most cases, the errors that relate to the [TRID] disclosures are subtle and technical in nature and do not result in corresponding consumer harm or confusion. Nevertheless, because the … rules implement provisions of the Truth in Lending Act that may carry actual or statutory damages and assignee liability to purchasers, there are serious concerns among secondary purchasers due to the rules’ expansion of liabilities in mortgage origination and investing.” Moreover, asset managers and other loan purchasers ...