The House of Representatives this week approved bills extending regulatory relief pertaining to the integrated disclosure rule under the Truth in Lending Act and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, or TRID.

A surge in anti-churning efforts by legislators and regulators to address the churning of VA loans has prompted analysts to examine certain policy changes, potential cures and pending legislation designed to protect veterans from predatory serial refinancing schemes. For instance, bipartisan legislation introduced by Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-MA, and Thom Tillis, R-NC, would establish a minimum 50 basis point incentive for qualified VA refi mortgages, recoupment of refi costs within three years, and a six-month seasoning period before the initial loan could be refinanced into a new VA loan. However, Wells Fargo Securities analysts are concerned that S 2304, Protecting Veterans from Predatory Lending Act of 2018, does not distinguish between rate-term refinancing and cash-out refinancing and may wind up eliminating cash-out refi as an option for cash-strapped veterans. Although some lenders used ...

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit recently upheld a lower court dismissal of a False Claims Act lawsuit alleging a lender’s violation of the 2012 National Mortgage Settlement and of the Home Affordable Modification Program. In Laurence Schneider, Appellant, v. JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., et al., Appellees, the federal government declined to intervene, allowing the qui tam lawsuit to proceed. Schneider, the relator and an owner of a mortgage servicing company that purchased numerous loans from Chase, alleged that the lender falsely claimed compliance with the $25 billion landmark settlement negotiated in 2012 between the federal government, 40 state attorneys general, and a group of large banks, including Chase. The settlement resolved claims against the banks for allegedly improper origination and servicing of conventional, FHA and VA loans that were thought to ...

The GOP housing-finance reform bill being developed in the Senate would keep the current standards for loan limits that apply to the government-sponsored enterprises, according to a draft of the bill released last week. Boosters of the non-agency mortgage market have long called for lower GSE loan limits, but Congress hasn’t shown an appetite to reduce them. The bill was drafted by Sen. Bob Corker, R-TN, and many Democrats have withheld support to this point, including ...

A bill introduced in the Senate last week with some bipartisan support would allow real estate investment trusts to regain access to funding from Federal Home Loan Banks. The bill would overturn a 2016 rule from the Federal Housing Finance Agency that restricted captive insurance companies from being FHLBank members. Before the FHFA rule took effect, a number of REITs established captive insurers to gain access to FHLBank advances, which come with better terms than ...

PennyMac Financial will resume originating jumbo mortgages in the correspondent channel this year, the lender announced this week. And jumbos will be offered in the broker channel operations recently launched by PennyMac. The House approved a bill this week that would shrink the potential market for non-qualified mortgages. H.R. 1153, the Mortgage Choice Act, was approved on a 280-131 vote with some bipartisan support. The legislation would ... [Includes two briefs]

The Federal Home Loan Banks may be required to jointly establish at least one entity to aggregate conventional mortgages and use a new government program to issue guaranteed MBS under draft legislation from Sen. Bob Corker, R-TN.

Affordable-housing groups are concerned a plan drafted by Sen. Bob Corker, R-TN, for reforming the housing-finance system threatens fair access to housing. They said the proposal has been developed with little or no input from affordable-housing advocates and civil rights groups, and it doesn’t offer enough support for affordable-housing goals.

House Rules Committee Expected to Clear Legislation to Tweak Points and Fees Definition under the ATR Rule. The House Rules Committee is expected to clear sometime this week H.R. 1153, “The Mortgage Choice Act,” legislation that would make two adjustments to the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) definition of points and fees to ensure greater consumer choice in mortgage and settlement services under the ability-to-repay/qualified mortgage rule.... OIG Has Mixed News for CFPB on Mobile Device Data Security. The CFPB got a dinged report card from the Office of Inspector General in terms of the security of mobile technology that bureau staff use. “Mobile devices help CFPB staff carry out their duties, but the portability of these devices heightens the risk of loss or theft of IT equipment and data,” said the OIG in explaining its motivation for evaluating the CFPB’s mobile encryption practices....

Reforming the housing-finance system under the plan from Sen. Bob Corker, R-TN, includes having at least a handful of guarantors, winding down the GSEs and establishing a mortgage insurance fund with private capital, according to a leaked draft making the rounds this week. The 80-page document seeks to promote competition in the marketplace by having five or six guarantors of conventional mortgage-backed securities, with none of them getting more than 20 percent to 25 percent of the market. Those new guarantors would be expected to launch within two years. Section 809 of the legislation spells out that “as promptly as practicable” the FHFA can greenlight Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to “sell or transfer” their assets.