In a development likely to further fuel speculation that his boss is on his way out the door, Anthony Alexis, the head of enforcement at the CFPB, will leave the agency for parts unknown after more than five years at the bureau. The exact date of his departure is to be determined, as he plans to remain until his successor is chosen. No official announcement was made, but a bureau official confirmed the news.CFPB Director Richard Cordray noted: “As our chief of enforcement, Tony has been my strong right arm, just as he was to Kent Markus who preceded him in that role. Together, they have earned the respect and admiration of many – including me – for their fierce integrity ...

It looks like the CFPB might be contemplating new disclosures for Home Equity Conversion Mortgages, otherwise known as reverse mortgages. The agenda for the Nov. 2 meeting of the bureau’s Consumer Advisory Board, which was posted online recently, indicates the panel “will discuss Know Before You Owe: Reverse Mortgages, financial well-being, trends and themes, and payday, vehicle title, and certain high-cost installment loans.” The use of the phrase “Know Before You Owe” suggests a new disclosure regime for reverse mortgages could be in the offing. The CAB meeting announcement also indicates that written comments will be accepted from interested members of the public. They should be sent to CFPB_CABandCouncilsEvents@cfpb.gov at least seven days before the meeting. “The comments will be ...

Since the Federal Housing Finance Agency Office of the Inspector General was launched in 2013, the OIG said it has made more than 375 recommendations to the FHFA to improve efficiency and reduce fraud. To keep track of its long-running list of recommendations, including those that are currently opened and those that were rejected and not implemented by the agency, the OIG published a compendium of recommendations that covers up to Oct. 1, 2017. “OIG typically relies on materials and representations from the agency to close its recommendations and may close some recommendations based on the agency’s representations as to the corrective actions it has...

Ocwen Financial, the once high-flying non-bank mortgage servicer, has brought to 15 the number of states it has reached settlements with to resolve allegations its compliance with laws and regulations related to its mortgage servicing and lending activities was deficient. Last week, Ocwen settled with New Mexico, Virginia and West Virginia. Late last month, it entered into agreements with 10 other states: Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Rhode Island, South Carolina and Wisconsin. Nevada and Indiana previously either withdrew or allowed their respective cease-and-desist orders to expire. Per the settlements, Ocwen will not acquire any new residential mortgage servicing rights until April 30, 2018. Also, the nonbank will develop a plan of action and milestones regarding its transition ...

A new report from the CFPB Office of Inspector General suggests the consumer bureau may have been in too much of a hurry to get more examiners into the field, compromising the quality of their training and their effectiveness. The CFPB’s Supervision Learning and Development (SL&D) unit has taken steps to enhance the Examiner Commissioning Program (ECP) since its implementation in October 2014, according to the report. However, there apparently were some pretty big holes left. For starters, the OIG found some examiners appeared to be pursuing parts of the examiner program before they were fully prepared, which limited their likelihood of success and affected employee morale. “Further, when examiners require multiple attempts to pass ECP components, they are not ...

The CFPB needs to improve the way it informs recipients of its civil investigative demands (CIDs) of the purpose of its investigations, according to a recent report from the bureau’s Office of Inspector General.At issue are the CFPB’s internal guidelines for crafting notifications of purpose associated with CIDs. The guidance calls for broad statements of purpose, to allow for flexibility, the OIG noted. However, “The guidance does not expressly remind enforcement attorneys of the need for statements of purpose to be compliant with relevant case law on notifications of purpose, including any developments in such case law, or remind them to revisit the statement of purpose in a revised opening memorandum if the purposes of the investigation evolve.” The ...

The Federal Housing Finance Agency Office of Inspector General said late last week that the FHFA is not doing a good job of monitoring the escalating costs associated with Fannie Mae’s new headquarters being constructed in downtown Washington, DC. This is the second time the agency watchdog has blasted the FHFA for not properly overseeing the build-out of the leased office space comprised of two office towers connected by multiple glass bridges. In a new audit, the IG questioned upgrades on the Class A office building that cost more than the typical $175 per rentable square foot.

On the heels of the Equifax data breach fiasco, the Federal Housing Finance Agency was deemed ineffective when it comes to supervising the GSEs on cybersecurity risks, according to a recent report from the agency’s Office of Inspector General.  In a previous report, the OIG asked the FHFA to examine policies about how Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac manage their cyber risks and address vulnerabilities. It noted that the GSEs store, process and transmit significant amounts…

A new report from the House Financial Services Committee staff accuses CFPB Director Richard Cordray of misleading Congress about the bureau’s probe of the unauthorized account creation scandal at Wells Fargo, rushing into a settlement without doing the requisite leg work, and agreeing to a paltry settlement when he could have slammed the company for at least $10 billion in fines. As a part of its investigation into the Wells Fargo fraudulent account scandal, the committee said it has obtained a crucial new document – the “Recommendation Memorandum” – that was presented to and approved by Cordray.“The Memorandum shows that the CFPB estimated that the bank was potentially liable for a statutory monetary penalty exceeding $10 billion,” said the committee. “This ...

Inspector General recently released a paper about the need for continued oversight of activity in the growing GSE multifamily market. Combined, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac purchased $112 billion in multifamily mortgages last year. The paper noted that while much of the reform discussion has focused on single-family housing, the GSEs’ role in the multifamily market is a critical aspect of the housing finance system. Market-wide multifamily originations, along with Fannie and Freddie purchases of multifamily mortgages, have grown to record levels in recent years, said the OIG. But multifamily mortgages are more complex to underwrite than single-family loans. “Underwriters of multifamily loans must understand the business and...