Mortgage lenders got a huge compliance and liability break, courtesy of the CFPB and the other federal financial regulators. A mortgage lender’s strategic decision to provide only qualified mortgages, in and of itself, will not raise its fair lending risk, the CFPB and four other regulators declared in new guidance issued last month. The agencies said they have received numerous inquiries from mortgage lenders about whether they would be liable under the disparate-impact doctrine of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and its implementing...

Congress has no need to enact additional legislation to impose tough loss-mitigation standards on servicers and owners of securitized residential mortgage loans for the benefit of consumers. The CFPB’s mortgage servicing regulation thoroughly covers all related issues in this regard, according to a leading industry attorney. Larry Platt, a consumer finance lawyer at the global law firm K&L Gates, LLP, appeared late last month in a personal capacity before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee to discuss the Housing...

The National Association of Mortgage Brokers, the Mortgage Bankers Association and the National Association of Realtors are scheduled to meet with CFPB Director Richard Cordray and his staff this week to discuss various issues related to the bureau’s ability-to-repay rule and its qualified mortgage standard. More specifically, during their Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2013, meeting, the industry representatives plan to raise the impact of the points-and-fees cap, what they assert are the biases against mortgage brokers, and the ability for consumers to...

The CFPB’s integrated mortgage disclosure rule under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act and the Truth in Lending Act might not be out until early December, an informed source told Inside the CFPB. For months, the expectation had been that an October release was in the offing, but it still has yet to come out, and bureau personnel say they don’t have a release date. “We were in a meeting at the beginning of October, and before that, there were some pretty heavy rumors that it was going to come out at the end of October,” said...

Housing Commissioner Carol Galante warned that with interest rates rising, the FHA may have reached a “tipping point” with its mortgage insurance premiums.

If the case settles, it would be the second time in two years that a case involving disparate impact claims under the Fair Housing Act has settled before the Supreme Court had an opportunity to hear arguments.

Ocwen Financial posted record revenues in the third quarter of 2013 that could have been even higher if not for unexpected delays in boarding $42.0 billion in unpaid principal balance on non-agency mortgages from OneWest Bank. Officials at Ocwen wouldn’t reveal the exact cause of the delay. The loans were in non-agency mortgage-backed securities issued by IndyMac, which was taken over by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. in 2008 and sold by the FDIC to OneWest in 2009. Ocwen officials said delays ...

The Department of Housing and Urban Development is seeking comment on a draft of a comprehensive Single Family Housing Policy Handbook, which is designed to eliminate confusion in the way the FHA does business. The draft document consolidates all FHA single-family requirements for applying for Title II forward mortgages into a single, authoritative source for FHA single-family policy. It represents the first part of a multi-phased effort to make single-family documents easier to understand and navigate, according to HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan. “With more than 1,000 mortgagee letters, housing notices, handbooks and other materials – we are taking action,” said Donovan. “We have ...

The Department of Housing and Urban Development may not be raising FHA mortgage insurance premiums for a while for fear that further aggressive pricing could shut out traditional and first-time homebuyers. In testimony before the House Financial Services Committee this week, FHA Commissioner Carol Galante warned that, with interest rates rising, the FHA may have reached a “tipping point” with its mortgage insurance premiums and that it may be time to pull back and ponder the next move. “As we continue to seek a balance between strengthening the [Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund] and ensuring access to credit, we must ...

Establishing a higher, mandatory capital reserve requirement for the FHA under the Protecting American Taxpayers and Homeowners Act, or PATH Act, would help reduce discretionary spending over 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office. According to CBO estimates, implementing the legislation would result in a net decrease in discretionary spending of $41.2 billion over the 2014-2023 period. This assumes future appropriations laws are enacted to implement the act’s provisions. The potential reduction in government spending would stem from ...