The CFPB has released the first version of the 2013 Dodd-Frank Mortgage Rules Readiness Guide, which provides a set of criteria and preparation procedures for residential mortgage lenders and originators. The guide’s purposes are to help regulated entities comply with the mortgage rules, highlight key issue areas that may be closely examined during a review, and focus the industry and examiners on key elements of a compliance management system that may warrant review, modification, or other enhancement. The guide...

Five industry trade groups jointly wrote the CFPB asking for a short-term fix and offering ideas to help the industry in effectively implementing the new requirements for disclosure of homeownership counseling information to consumers at the time of loan application, which was one element of the bureau’s final rule on high-cost mortgage loans issued in January. “We urge the CFPB to adopt a temporary compliance measure that will be possible to implement by the January 2014 compliance deadline, pending steps necessary...

Banking Industry Reps Ask CFPB to Delay Implementing Mortgage Rules. The CFPB should delay the January 2014 effective dates of several pending mortgage rules, a number of banking industry representatives said in a letter to CFPB Director Richard Cordray late last week. “These rules will dramatically refocus the entire lending process,” wrote the American Bankers Association and their state association affiliates. “Every participant in that process, from lenders to borrowers, service providers, appraisers, escrow agents, title...

Rep. Jeb Hensarling this week provided a detailed blueprint for his vision of the MBS market that would replace Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with a voluntary securitization platform that would be prohibited from providing any guaranties, government-backed or otherwise. The Texas Republican’s proposed National Mortgage Market Utility would be built from the work already underway at the government-sponsored enterprises to design a common securitization platform. Like the existing CSP project, which was assigned to the GSEs by their regulator, the NMMU would develop standards for servicing, pooling and securitizing home mortgages, as well as a “publicly accessible securitization outlet.” Hensarling’s proposed utility, part of his Protecting American Taxpayers and Homeowners Act, goes...

The Securities Industry and Financial Market Association cautioned drafters of a proposed model law on mortgage foreclosures against adopting a provision that would eliminate or repeal the holder-in-due-course rule in the case of home loan foreclosures. Commenting on the Uniform Law Commission’s discussion draft on the “Residential Real Estate Mortgage Foreclosure Process and Protections,” SIFMA urged the commission not to repeal or limit the holder rule. The trade group warned that the rescission of the rule in the context of home loan foreclosures could convert a secured loan into an unsecured loan. “This is...

A recent decision by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals on a key aspect of the timing of securities lawsuits – squarely at odds with the ruling of another federal appeals court – has called into the question the legal viability of a 40-year-old Supreme Court precedent, prompting expectations that the high court will eventually clarify the conflict. The Second Circuit on June 27 ruled in Police & Fire System of City of Detroit v. IndyMac MBS Inc. to uphold a lower court ruling that blocked retirement systems from intervening in a putative class action that accused several major banks – including IndyMac, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs – of misrepresenting certain MBS. The groups had attempted...

The issue of whether mortgage loan officers should be eligible for overtime pay has long been a bone of contention between companies and LOs.

The Senate Banking Committee is expected to advance Rep. Watt’s nomination to the Senate floor, strictly along party lines.

Hedge funds continue to salivate over mortgage servicing rights. Meanwhile, the Hensarling GSE bill goes down like a Led Zeppelin.

The Republican leadership of the House Financial Services Committee this week unveiled a comprehensive housing finance reform bill, including a series of proposals to “right size” the FHA, redefine its mission and reestablish it as a stand-alone agency. At the same time, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Johnson, D-SD, and Ranking Member Mike Crapo, R-ID, announced they have reached a bipartisan agreement on legislation that would ensure the solvency of the FHA. Both lawmakers expect to introduce a bill next week. The House FHA reform measures were introduced in tandem with reform proposals for ...