Requiring an undercapitalized issuer to repurchase uninsured performing mortgages out of a mortgage-backed securities pool could increase risk to the federal government, warned Ginnie Mae. Responding to an adverse audit report from the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of the Inspector General, Ginnie said that while it generally accepts the IG’s recommendations, forcing an undercapitalized issuer to buy out performing loans and either hold them in portfolio or sell them at a substantial loss would put the government at greater risk. “This is something we need to be alert to in certain cases,” the agency said. According to the report, Ginnie improperly allowed more than $49 million of single-family mortgages with terminated insurance to remain in its MBS pools for more than one year without obtaining FHA coverage. The IG warned Ginnie could be on the ...

The Federal Housing Finance Agency recently redrafted the proposed indemnification payments rule to make it easier to understand. The proposed rule looks to replace a provision concerning indemnification payments by regulated entities in conservatorship with one that clearly states that the regulation does not apply to such entities. This issue has been brewing since 2008 when the FHFA published an interim final rule on severance agreements and indemnification payments. It then re-proposed the proposed amendment on indemnification payments in 2009. Now the agency said it wants to clarify the fact that it does not consider indemnification payments to be subject to FHFA rules and procedures related to compensation.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s risk assessments were not a proper follow-up to targeted risk, according to the FHFA’s Office of the Inspector General. The IG noted that between 2012 and 2015, the examiners’ assessments often had little to do with the high-priority risk they are supposed to be supervising. …

The complex financing arrangements used by certain investors and a lack of clarity from federal regulators can make it difficult to determine the entity responsible for meeting risk-retention requirements in some MBS and ABS, according to Charles Sweet, senior counsel at the law firm of Morgan Lewis. The Dodd-Frank Act generally required the sponsor of a security to retain at least 5.0 percent of the risk from the security. Sweet said determining the sponsor of an MBS or ABS can be fairly straightforward when one company originates the assets, services the receivables and initiates securitization, as in the case of an ABS backed by automobile retail contracts from a captive finance company of a car manufacturer. However, where securitization roles are more dispersed, Sweet said...

The Federal Communications Commission has issued a baffling final rule restricting the way servicers can collect on or service student loans, mortgages and other debts owed to the federal government.Specifically, the rule implements a key provision in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 amending the Telephone Consumer Protection Act to exclude robocalls from the TCPA consent requirement if they are made solely to collect a debt owed to or guaranteed by the federal government.The TCPA generally requires a caller to obtain “prior express consent” from the call recipient before making a telemarketing call or an auto-dial call to the recipient’s landline or cell phone.However, the mortgage industry raised concerns that TCPA’s consent requirement could create potential liability for important servicing calls that could help homeowners save their homes, which prompted Congress to pass the Budget Act amendment. Last month, the FCC specifically excluded the federal government from the TCPA’s consumer protections by ruling that the government is not a “person” subject to the TCPA. Here is where the FCC rule gets confusing. commission is authorized to adopt rules to “restrict or limit the number and duration” of any wireless calls to collect debt owed to the federal government.”

Mortgage Company President Charged with Defrauding Ginnie Mae. Robert Pena, president and founder of the now-defunct Mortgage Security Inc., was charged in federal district court in Boston for allegedly bilking Ginnie Mae out of nearly $3 million. MSI was an approved participant in the Ginnie Mae mortgage-backed securities program, pooling eligible single-family mortgages and selling the securitized products to investors. The firm also serviced the underlying loans. In 2011, Pena allegedly began diverting borrower payments and huge loan-payoff amounts into secret accounts, which he used to fund personal and business activities. Likewise, he is said to have funneled borrowers’ escrow funds and mortgage-insurance premiums into other personal accounts. In total, Pena pocketed $3 million due Ginnie Mae, which had to pay investors whose investments it had guaranteed, according to the ...

The Federal Communications Commission recently promulgated final rules that restrict how companies can attempt to collect on delinquent agency mortgages, federal student loans and other debts owed to the federal government, including through the use of so-called robocalls. The new rules limit the number of robocalls to wireless numbers, including text messages, to three per month. The new rules also only allow robocalls concerning debts that are delinquent or at imminent risk of default, unless there is prior express consent otherwise. The new rules require that, absent consent, callers only call the individual who owes the debt, not his or her family or friends. This includes limiting the number of robocalls allowed to reassigned numbers. The new rules reiterate that ...

New legal requirements enacted in the state of New York in the wake of the financial crisis pose particular compliance challenges for mortgage servicers, according to a new report by analysts at S&P Global Ratings. The S&P team recently reviewed a series of laws the state legislature passed in June that attempts to address several issues related to “zombie” foreclosures, which refers to the phenomenon of a servicer initiating foreclosure on a vacant property but not going so far as to actually take title. Urban community activists complain such properties languish unsold for a prolonged period of time, contributing to neighborhood blight in communities least able to handle it – hence, state lawmakers decided to act.One resulting requirement “imposes conditions ...

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s Office of Inspector General disagreed with lawmakers’ allegations that organizational changes within the oversight agency have led to inefficiency.In June, Sens. Charles Grassley, R-IA, and Ron Johnson, R-WI, asked the Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency to review the FHFA OIG. The senators said that staff cuts in the Office of Audits over the past two years, combined with money spent to hire outside employees, has led to decreased production since FHFA IG Laura Wertheimer took reign in 2014. They complained that the agency produced less audit reports in 2015 and said some reports that were completed were not published.

We pick up where we left off last issue with the Department of Veterans Affairs attempting to clarify certain guidance in the VA Lender Handbook. ? If the TRID (Truth in Lending/Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act Integrated Disclosures) closing disclosures change after the veteran signs [the form], should the lender require the veteran to sign it again? VA: The short answer is yes. The lender is required to provide the TRID closing disclosure no later than three business days before consummation. The lender is required to provide a corrected closing disclosure to the borrower three days before consummation or closing in certain instances, and at or before consummation if other types of changes occur, such as adjustment of costs or credits. Therefore, any changes made that require an amended disclosure must have the borrower’s signature. ? Is the Amendatory Clause mandatory for all ...