A U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit recently upheld rulings that went against Mortgage Grader, a loan shopping website that has filed a number of patent-related lawsuits. The court upheld a ruling by a lower court that found that Mortgage Grader’s claims related to the “abstract idea” of anonymous loan shopping and that the patents obtained by the firm didn’t include an “inventive concept.” Mortgage Grader filed a lawsuit in January 2013 against Costco Wholesale and ...

Credit unions could incur an average cost of almost $9,600 to update their computer systems with the changes required by the CFPB…

Besides Quicken, loanDepot has been mentioned as an innovator when it comes to new using new technologies...

There is also a school of thought that going forward, loan officers won’t be needed as much because of new origination technologies...

Should mortgage servicers begin to worry about residential delinquencies in such oil producing states as North Dakota, Oklahoma and Texas?

Angela Klein, an attorney with the law firm Morrison & Foerster, said her firm has been talking to mortgage lenders that use big data about the risk and how little guidance there is about it.

FHA lenders are uneasy over whether issues raised by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s new integrated disclosure rules could affect FHA lending. Although the issues cited by lenders are not FHA issues per se, these lenders are concerned that such uncertainties may cause problems for their FHA business, according to mortgage industry consultant Brian Chappelle, a principal at Potomac Partners. For example if a lender cures a mistake and the cure results in a reimbursement of, say, $100 to the borrower at closing, would that be considered a violation of the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s minimum 3.5 percent cash-investment requirement for FHA loans. “I don’t think it is a violation, but lenders are worried about how HUD might interpret it,” said Chappelle. “It is well after closing and it is obviously not a gift given to the borrower. It is ...

While mortgage lenders have been using traditional forms of data, like credit reports, to make their lending decisions, the Federal Trade Commission is concerned that “big data” will make it easier for banks to unfairly discriminate against certain segments of the population. Anytime big data is used to categorize consumers in ways that can result in certain populations being put at a disadvantage for things like a mortgage, it becomes a tool for exclusion, the FTC warned ...

RealtyTrac recently launched a beta version of a new tool that it hopes will become the “Carfax” of the residential home market by telling the homebuyer as well as the lender all the foibles of a residential property. The product’s official name is Home Disclosure and it promises consumers a comprehensive view of a property that they plan to buy or rent in the future. Current property owners, as well as lenders, can access the information as well. The report is broken down into ...

Mortgage industry representatives are meeting this week with Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray in another attempt to squeeze out additional clarification to help lenders comply with the bureau’s integrated disclosure rule, which took effect Oct. 3, 2015. The ambiguity and confusion engendered by the rule continues to contribute to mortgage closing delays throughout the country, according to many top industry officials. Executives of the Independent Community Bankers of America were scheduled...