Veterans took advantage of their home loan benefit in record numbers, as loans originated under the Department of Veterans Affairs’ home loan guaranty program reached their highest total in eight years, according to the agency. The VA reported 357,594 mortgage loans with an agency guarantee in 2011, an increase of nearly 14.0 percent over last year. There are currently more than 1.5 million active VA home loans, the agency said. VA-backed home loans also showed the lowest serious delinquency and foreclosure rates in the mortgage industry, the agency noted. It cited the Mortgage Bankers Association’s National Delinquency Survey for 3Q11 showing ... [including one chart]

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray this week confirmed to members of Congress that the agency’s top mortgage regulatory priority is its forthcoming rule on qualified mortgages – something it expects to finalize this summer. Separately, the agency last week quietly complied with a disclosure practice that all other federal entities involved in rulemaking follow: the release of a regulatory agenda. The CFPB filing, after officials bickered with House Republicans last week over the issue, does not include several key projects, such as devising rules on unfair and deceptive practices...

Originations of 1-4 family residential mortgages rose by a substantial 19.4 percent at the end of last year, but 2011 still ranked as the worst year for new production activity since year 2000. Mortgage lenders produced an estimated $1.35 trillion of home loans last year, down 17.2 percent from the total in 2010, according to Inside Mortgage Finance. Production hit a low spot during the second quarter, when just $280.0 billion in new mortgages were originated – the weakest quarter since financial markets seized up at the end of 2008. New record lows in mortgage interest...(Includes two data charts)

The newly empowered Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is wasting no time jumping into its oversight of mortgage origination practices and procedures at banks and nonbanks alike, issuing a set of M.O. examination procedures that will be used to put mortgage lenders and brokers under a compliance magnifying lens. But one industry attorney warns that in doing so, the CFPB has tilted the playing field against nonbank mortgage originators. CFPB Director Richard Cordray said the CFPB’s supervision of nonbank mortgage originators will “illuminate the entire marketplace by making nonbanks play by ...

The Supreme Court of the United States plans to hear oral arguments late next month in Freeman v. Quicken Loans, a case that could have wide-ranging implications for lenders subject to the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act. The issue before the high court is whether RESPA Section 8(b) 12 USC 2607(b) prohibits a real estate settlement services provider from charging an unearned fee only if the fee is split between two or more parties.The language of that provision of the statute states that no person “shall give and no person shall accept any portion, split or ...

Regulatory burden will be the biggest issue for mortgage originators in 2012, according to recruiting firm Hammerhouse’s second annual survey of originator opinions. of the 400 active mortgage loan originators surveyed, 51 percent cited further oversight and regulation as a top concern for originators in 2012. Twenty-nine percent said that finding a committed and stable mortgage lender to work with is still one of the areas of utmost concern. Product flexibility and raising interest rates were identified as top concerns by 12 percent and 8 percent, respectively ...

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit recently took on Molosky v. Washington Mutual Inc., which addressed the preemption of certain state law claims under the federal Home Owners Loan Act. The plaintiffs in this case alleged that certain fees charged by their loan servicer in connection with the prepayment of their mortgage violated both the Michigan Usury Act and their mortgage contract.The lower court had previously rejected the suit on the basis of HOLA preemption, prompting the borrowers to appeal. The Sixth Circuit basically split the difference. On the one hand, the ...

In Marr v. Bank of America, N.A., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has affirmed that borrower testimony alone can overcome the Truth in Lending Act’s “rebuttable presumption” that a borrower has received two notices of his right to rescind a refinance transaction, despite a written acknowledgement by the borrower to the contrary. In this case, the borrower argued that he wasn’t given two right-to-rescind notices as required under TILA, even though he had signed a document indicating he had. He said he had filed away and left undisturbed the documents he received when ...

California. In Balderas v. Countrywide Bank, N.A., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently ruled that the Truth In Lending Act’s delivery obligation requires borrowers be permitted to keep written copies of the right-to-rescind notice. The court noted that to “deliver” the notice as per TILA requires a “permanent physical transfer from one party to another,” as opposed to momentary delivery. Illinois. Earlier this month, the Department of Financial and Professional Regulations published amendments to the state’s mortgage originator licensing requirements. One change ...

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Comments Wanted on Mortgage-Related Rules. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is asking for public comment on currently approved information collections associated with certain recently published interim final rules having to do with mortgage lending. One such rule has to do with the Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act (Regulation G) 12 CFR Part 1007.“The information collection will improve the flow of information to and between regulators; provide accountability and ...