The CFPB recently released initial data findings from its 15‐month (and counting) study of overdraft programs, including a few comments that suggest some rulemaking is in the offing. “Nothing in this report implies that banks and credit unions should be precluded from offering overdraft coverage,” the report stated. Moreover, the study noted progress in some areas in recent years in protecting consumers from harm. “Nonetheless, our findings with respect to the number of consumers who are incurring heavy overdraft fees or account...

Comments at the recent CFPB/Federal Trade Commission roundtable on debt collection reveal the bureau is concerned about making the process more consumer friendly, and that portends more oversight and regulation for the industry. “At the bureau, we recognize that debt collection is an essential part of the credit system,” said Steve Antonakes, the bureau’s acting deputy director. “Debt collectors remind borrowers that repaying debt is a serious obligation and that not repaying has consequences.” However, the bureau also...

Bureau Puts All Mortgage Rules in One Online Location. The CFPB launched its new Regulatory Implementation web page last week, a centralized online location that consolidates all of the bureau’s new 2013 mortgage rules and related implementation materials. “This is an effort to support rule implementation and ensure that industry is ready to comply with the new borrower protections,” the CFPB said. This is the central access point for the agency’s mortgage-related implementation materials, including mortgage rules at a glance...

The House Financial Services Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, chaired by Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-NC, plans a hearing on the afternoon of Tuesday, June 18, entitled, “CFPB Budget Review.” “The hearing will examine the past and planned obligations and expenditures of the CFPB for fiscal years 2011-14, the purpose and propriety of such obligations and expenditures, and whether the absence of CFPB accountability to Congress has an impact on such obligations and expenditures,” according to a subcommittee...

The recent market tumult caused by suggestions that the Federal Reserve’s quantitative easing program (QE3) may soon be tapering off is likely over, and price adjustments may have created good buying opportunities in the non-agency MBS sector, according to analysts. With less than $1 trillion in MBS still outstanding in the market, and very few higher-yield investment options around, non-agency MBS remains a good investment choice, said Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts Chris Flanagan, Ryan Asato and Justin Borst. In their latest market analysis, the BAML researchers said...

The outlook for Federal Reserve policy and any adjustments to its $85 billion per month agency MBS buying spree depends a great deal on how the U.S. housing market evolves during the second quarter through the end of this year, according to analysts from Standard & Poor’s. Robert Keiser, vice president of Global Markets Intelligence at S&P Capital IQ, told attendees of an S&P webinar this week that all the signs point to the Fed specifically targeting housing in the third installment of its quantitative easing policy (QE3) as an instrument to stimulate economic growth. “The Fed recognizes...

The linchpin for a viable and comprehensive National Mortgage Database is to ensure that the identities of both mortgage borrowers and mortgage servicers from whom the statistical information is collected for analysis are protected behind a firm wall of security countermeasures, according to project architects.

Officials at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau claim that lenders will originate home loans that don’t meet the new qualified mortgage standard, though industry participants have been skeptical due to the liability involved with such loans. Raj Date, the former deputy director of the CFPB, announced last week that his new firm will indeed originate non-QMs, with an initial focus on non-agency jumbo mortgages. “It’s an example of a great market opportunity where we can ...

The FHA and the Department of Justice have ramped up enforcement actions against more than a dozen mortgage lenders in recent weeks for alleged agency rule violations. At least two of the lenders have received notices from the DOJ that they are in violation of the False Claims Act. According to the Collingwood Group, a Washington-based business advisory firm, the agencies have sent notices of enforcement or “administrative” actions to as many as 15 FHA direct endorsement (DE) lenders, some of whom could lose their DE status if found to have engaged in improper lending practices that resulted in huge losses for the FHA. The latest enforcement actions have ...

The Department of Veterans Affairs is planning to raise the residual income limit requirement for home loan applicants by 15 percent – a move that could shut out many veterans who have limited income. The proposal is one of several measures under consideration for the VA’s Home Loan Program, said Carol Barnard, a loan production officer in the VA Regional Loan Center in Denver, during a recent webinar hosted by the Collingwood Group, a Washington-based advisory firm. Barnard is also a senior consultant with Collingwood. This change means that, for a family of four in the VA’s Northeast region, the required income residual could jump to ... [1 chart]