House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling, R-TX, surprised some in the nation’s capital last week by announcing he would not seek re-election when his term expires in 2018. Hensarling was already slated to surrender his chairmanship of the committee due to term limits, but he certainly had enough seniority to lay claim to another powerful position within the GOP leadership in the House. Instead, he opted to depart elected office entirely, citing a desire to spend more time with his family. The news immediately prompted speculation inside the Washington, DC, beltway about Hensarling’s next destination: at the helm of the Federal Housing Financial Agency or perhaps the CFPB? Jaret Seiberg, an analyst with the Cowen Washington Research Group, ...
During the recent annual meeting of the Mortgage Bankers Association, a top compliance expert highlighted some of the biggest issues and concerns the industry faces under the new data collection and reporting regime ushered in by the CFPB’s updated Home Mortgage Disclosure Act rule. The short list of the most significant considerations, of course, includes the fair lending implications of the new requirements. Mitch Kider, chairman and managing partner of the Weiner Brodsky Kider PC law firm in Washington, DC, told attendees at one break-out session that HMDA data accuracy (or errors) sets the tone for an entire CFPB examination. “Most of the new data fields companies already have,” he said. “Do you know what story your data currently tells ...
The CFPB recently issued some proposed policy guidance for its Home Mortgage Disclosure Act rule that could help borrowers on the data privacy front, but it might not be enough, according to one compliance attorney. “On the heels of the Equifax data breach and continued cybersecurity threats, the CFPB’s guidance is a clear attempt to alleviate concerns regarding identity theft and information security,” Alexander Koskey, an associate in the Atlanta office of the Baker Donelson law firm, said in a recent client note. “However, significant privacy concerns persist that the increase in the amount of data that is being disclosed for the first time will make it easier to discover the identity of applicants and borrowers.”Additionally, given that the ...
The Conference of State Bank Supervisors recently told the CFPB it is concerned that a rule expected from the bureau could erode the relationship lending model that community banks use with small businesses. “The proposed new data collection requirements will require lenders to compile and report a variety of data points regarding small business applications and loans,” the state regulators said in a recent comment letter to the bureau. “At a minimum, these new data collection requirements will impose additional and disproportionate compliance costs on smaller financial institutions with limited resources and unnecessarily raise the cost of originating small business loans by all lenders.” According to the CSBS, community banks exercise a substantial amount of discretion and expertise in the ...
African-American and Hispanic Borrowers Allegedly Harmed by Provident Will Receive $9 Million in Compensation. Last week, Garden City Group, the settlement administrator for Provident Funding Associates, mailed out checks to African-American and Hispanic borrowers to compensate them for having been unlawfully charged higher interest or broker fees on their mortgages from Provident.... Ocwen Enters Into Agreement with Hawaii to Resolve Regulatory Action. Ocwen Financial settled some outstanding issues with regulatory authorities in Hawaii last week, continuing a streak the nonbank servicer has been on for the last two months or so....
New issuance of agency single-family MBS in October was almost even with the previous month, but there was a sharp swing of market share between the two government-sponsored enterprises, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS ranking and analysis. Total new MBS issuance by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae came to $113.99 billion last month, a modest 0.5 percent decline from September. But while Fannie production slumped 11.5 percent, Freddie ... [Includes two data charts]
Although it’s still unclear when the Treasury Department will release its blueprint for resolving the epic conservatorships of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and reforming the housing-finance system, industry officials are sifting through the Trump administration’s tea leaves. One source who claims to be familiar with Treasury’s thinking on the matter said a consensus is developing around a model where the government-sponsored enterprises re-emerge as “utilities” with little or ...
This week, the government-sponsored enterprises reported combined earnings of $7.69 billion in the third quarter of 2017, which was up almost $3 billion from the previous period. As the end of the year approaches, they also continue to reduce their retained investment portfolios as mandated by the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac earnings were boosted by a legal settlement with the Royal Bank of Scotland over non-agency MBS ... [Includes one data chart]
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