In case you’re wondering, Ocwen services roughly $208 billion of non-agency product.

The CFPB brought the hammer down on a handful of nonbank mortgage companies in the last two weeks over advertising practices the bureau asserts are deceptive and misleading because, in three of the cases, the lenders allegedly implied U.S. government approval of their products or otherwise suggested the companies were agencies of the federal government when in point of fact they were not. The actions are a confirmation to the industry that lenders don’t have to be big players with deep pockets or even depository institutions to earn the bureau’s wrath. They are also a big wake-up call in terms of compliance. “For decades, many lenders which have used direct mail to market to consumers have emphasized the government-insured nature ...

In an unannounced development late last week, the CFPB granted an industry request to tweak its pending integrated disclosure rule by issuing a final rule allowing a three-business-day window for lenders to revise a loan estimate form. This is longer than the one-day window that was proposed back in October and the same-day requirement included in the original mortgage disclosure rule under the Truth in Lending Act and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act. The bureau received comments from industry trade associations, creditors, technology vendors, and other industry representatives addressing the proposed change. All comments supported the proposal to relax the timing requirement, but most advocated extending it to three business days. Most commenters argued that a next-business-day requirement presents ...

Jack Guttentag, professor of finance emeritus at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, advises borrowers to ignore the CFPB’s controversial online rate checker tool. “It is completely useless,” he asserted in a recent online blog post. “The tool a borrower needs is a ‘shopping rate,’ a rate that a competing lender should match or better. The CFPB shows a distribution of rates, and leaves it to the shopper to decide which rate in the distribution is the shopping rate, while providing no guidance on how to do it.” For example, given the loan features he entered on Feb. 10, the CFPB tool told Guttentag that, “In Pennsylvania, most lenders in our data are offering rates at or below ...

With many small and mid-tier mortgage companies and banks increasingly worried about straying from compliance with the CFPB’s expanding rules and requirements, vendor representatives are working overtime to alleviate their clients’ anxieties and keep them on task and on budget. “We’re really seeing a lot of fear in the CFPB’s steadily intensifying regulations and requirements,” said Mary Beth Doyle, founder and co-owner of Loyalty Express, a mortgage marketing technology vendor in Woburn, MA. As recently as a year or a year-and-a-half ago, companies were saying they would wait to hear about a new rule themselves from the CFPB. “And today, people are more panic driven. There’s this sense of paralysis because everyone’s afraid of stepping out of bounds and not ...

Almost 71 percent of residential loans originated last year were funneled into mortgage securities. In 2013 the securitization rate was 78.5 percent.

Disclosure of findings from third-party due diligence on MBS and ABS are set to go from a few paragraphs in a rating report to a detailed form with certification from the due diligence firm, thanks to standards established by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The standards take effect for deals that price June 15 or later. Within five days before the first sale in an offering that will receive a rating, the findings and conclusions of any third-party due diligence report obtained by the issuer or underwriter must be disclosed in Form ABS-15G or the rating report. The disclosure requirement applies to private placements along with SEC-registered deals. “Our biggest challenge now is educating...

When it comes to capital cushions, 2018 is "Year Zero" for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

In 2018, the GSE capital buffer falls to zero dollars. Zilch. Nada. Hopefully by then, President Bush or President Clinton will have worked out a GSE reform deal with Congress…