A bill filed in the Senate two weeks ago would require mortgage servicers to respond to a short-sale offer within 30 days and make a final decision on acceptance within 60 days of receiving a purchase offer. The Stopping Ongoing Lender Delays (SOLD) Act, S. 3177, sponsored by Sen. Dean Heller, R-NV, would amend the Truth in Lending Act to require servicers to provide prompt responses to homeowners seeking to refinance or “for other purposes” including short sales. “By placing a shot clock on these decisions, it will reduce the amount of time it takes to sell a property, improve the likelihood that the transaction will close, and reduce the number of foreclosures in Nevada and across the country,” Heller said in a Senate floor speech on May 15. “Stability in the housing market is critical for long-term growth.”

The mortgage lending industry won a comprehensive and authoritative victory and a great deal of legal certainty from the Supreme Court on the issues of fee-splitting and markups under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act. Last week, in Freeman et al. v. Quicken Loans Inc., the nation’s highest court unanimously sided with the lender and ruled that a plaintiff has to show that a fee charged for a real estate settlement service was shared between two or more persons to prove a violation of Section 8(b) of RESPA has occurred. In this case, the plaintiffs were three couples, the Freemans, Bennetts...

Although at least one Senate Republican shows interest in a plan to expand the Home Affordable Refinance Program, the outlook for Congressional action remains doubtful and House Democrats are pushing the Federal Housing Finance Agency to make further HARP changes administratively. During a Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee hearing last week on legislation to expand HARP, Sen. Bob Corker, R-TN, said he was open to the proposal. “I hope that we’ll have a real mark-up on this bill,” he said. Senate Democrats Robert Menendez (NJ) and Barbara Boxer (CA) have introduced legislation...

With his home state of Nevada leading the nation in foreclosures, Republican Sen. Dean Heller has introduced legislation that seeks to simplify and speed up the short-sale process via an amendment to the Truth in Lending Act. Heller has recently introduced SB 3177, the Stopping Ongoing Lender Delays Act (or SOLD Act). His legislation would require each servicer of a home mortgage to respond in writing within 30 calendar days to a mortgagor of a residential mortgage loan who has requested in writing a short sale of the dwelling or residential real property that is subject to the mortgage...

A panel of federal regulators told members of the House Financial Services Committee this week that enforcement of securities violations would be greatly hampered if the government was compelled to seek admissions of wrongdoing or liability as a condition of settlement. Committee Chairman Spencer Bachus, R-AL, said the purpose of the hearing was to examine the settlement practices of federal financial regulators, in particular the Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC has come under public scrutiny after a federal judge last fall rejected the terms of an SEC settlement in lieu of trial that...

It will be long before the Department of Housing and Urban Development is done with its list of lenders targeted for indemnification, but a scarier prospect is having the U.S. Attorney’s Office doing the collection, according to compliance experts. The number of defendants seeking legal representation in FHA-related False Claims Act cases, in which the government has taken over from original whistleblowers, has grown. “If the work on our desks is any indication, HUD is way ahead in its enforcement of FHA origination rules and in seeking indemnification, which always increases during presidential....

One of the newly filed Senate bills to advance the White House’s election-year refinance initiatives would pay for itself by extending the decade-long hike in loan guarantee fees for “just one more year” through 2022, according to the bill’s Democrat sponsor. Last week, Sen. Diane Feinstein, D-CA, introduced the Expanding Refinancing Opportunities Act of 2012, to allow more homeowners the chance to refinance via FHA mortgage insurance. The bill is geared toward mortgages not already guaranteed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or the FHA. Feinstein’s bill would create a $6 billion FHA fund to provide...

Mortgage bankers and brokers are making a fresh push to support H.R. 4323, the Consumer Mortgage Choice Act, legislation that would change the way points and fees are calculated under the Qualified Mortgage definition in the Dodd-Frank Act. Trade groups representing these segments of the industry have made new appeals to their members recently to reach out to their respective lawmakers and garner their support for the legislation. The Consumer Mortgage Choice Act would spell out that affiliate title fees, certain loan originator compensation, and escrow payments are not included...

The paint is still wet on the expanded Home Affordable Refinance Program, but the Obama administration says it is firmly behind efforts by Senate Democrats to expand the program for underwater Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac borrowers even further. Sens. Robert Menendez, D-NJ, and Barbara Boxer, D-CA, are preparing to file legislation that would force Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to waive representations and warranties on new HARP loans regardless of whether the refinance lender serviced the previous mortgage. The forthcoming Responsible Homeowner Refinance Act of 2012 would also prohibit the government...

FHA lenders are anticipating a spike in volume when changes to the FHA Streamline Refinance Program become effective next month. The biggest change to the program taking place on June 11 is the lower upfront mortgage insurance premium, which the Department of Housing and Urban Development had reduced to just 0.01 percent, and the annual MIP, which was lowered to 0.55 percent. The new premium pricing is effective for all streamline refi transactions that are refinancing FHA loans endorsed on or before May 31, 2009. HUD expects the change will ensure that borrowers benefit from a net reduction in their overall mortgage payment and, at the same time, reduce risk to the FHA. The FHA Streamline Refi program allows borrowers with FHA-insured loans who are current on their mortgage to refinance into a new FHA-insured loan without ...