The Federal Reserve Board Office of Inspector General has added to its agenda eight new planned projects related to the CFPB, according to the OIG’s current work plan, which was updated late last week. One of the new projects is an audit of the CFPB's civil penalty fund. “We plan to audit the CFPB’s use of the civil penalty funds associated with specific enforcement actions to assess the CFPB’s controls surrounding the use of funds to ensure that the agency complies with applicable Dodd-Frank Act requirements,” the OIG said in its...

Ally Financial Under the CFPB’s Microscope. The CFPB is investigating certain, unspecified retail financing practices of Ally Financial, the lender revealed in its 10-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission last week. “It is possible that this could result in actions against us,” the company said. A company spokesperson declined to elaborate. An official at the CFPB said, “We do not comment on or confirm investigations.” The probe could stem from the lender’s retail call centers, as Ally did away with its...

Financial services companies: Do you want to get an information edge on your competitors? Inside the CFPB Editor Thomas Ressler now provides bureau-related news updates and insider nuggets throughout the day on Twitter and on Facebook. “This is more than a novelty,” Ressler explained. “There’s so much going on with the bureau, and in reaction to the bureau, that we just can’t fit everything into a biweekly newsletter.” Additionally, the latest electronic technological innovations provide editorial staff with...

Tuesday, March 12: Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee Chairman Tim Johnson, D-SD, plans to hold a hearing on the renomination of Richard Cordray to head up the CFPB. Inside the CFPB will send out a news alert later that day featuring our first quick take on the hearing, to be followed throughout the rest of the week with postings on our social media feeds. Complete coverage will follow in our next issue. Wednesday, March 13: The House Financial Services Housing and Insurance Subcommittee has scheduled a...

H.R. 450: The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection Accountability Act, introduced by Rep. Bill Posey, R-FL, would amend the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 to bring the CFPB into the regular appropriations process. The bill is a re-introduction of H.R. 1640 from the 112th Congress. Current status: referred to House Financial Services Committee. S. 190: The Restoring the Constitutional Balance of Power Act of 2013, introduced by Sen. Mike Johanns, R-NE, would prohibit the transfer of funds from the Federal Reserve that would be used by the CFPB “to carry out activities that are authorized...

Nationstar appears to be the winning bidder on the Taylor Bean & Whitaker MSR pacakge. Meanwhile: Ed DeMarco, the most powerful man in mortgage finance today?

Lending groups are urging the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to broaden classifications of “qualified mortgages” that it adopted in its final rule implementing ability-to-repay standards mandated by the Dodd-Frank Act. The Mortgage Bankers Association said the interest-rate threshold for determining which loans are eligible for safe harbor provided to QM loans should be raised. The CFPB rule generally allows QM status for loans with annual percentage rates up to 1.5 percentage points higher than ...

The Department of Housing and Urban Development said it will share information soon on the estimated impact of mandatory, across-the-board spending cuts on HUD/FHA programs and their recipients. A HUD spokesman declined to put a sequestration tag on all affected programs, including FHA, saying details would be available as soon as the department notifies all HUD funding recipients of automatic spending cuts that went into effect last week. The mandatory cuts to defense and discretionary spending kicked in after Congress failed to enact a plan to reduce the deficit by $1.2 trillion over 10 years, as required by ...

The recent increase in mortgage insurance premium (MIP) and other policy changes to strengthen the FHA Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund are causing borrowers with better credit to shift from FHA to conventional financing, according to a new Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey. The monthly survey of real estate agents found that FHA remains an option for borrowers who have limited cash resources and tainted credit. However, given their individual circumstances and FHA’s recent policy changes, many would take out a conventional loan if they could qualify. With a low 3.5 percent downpayment requirement, FHA appears to ...

Banks with major Ginnie Mae portfolios – and even smaller firms – increased their purchases of delinquent mortgages out of MBS pools in the fourth quarter compared to the third as a way to save money and refinance troubled loans. According to an analysis by Inside FHA Lending, the top 50 Ginnie Mae issuers bought $12.65 billion of problem loans out trusts in fourth quarter compared to $11.17 billion in the third, an increase of 13 percent. “Once you buy the loan it goes into your portfolio,” said Tim Rood, a partner in The Collingwood Group, a Washington-based advisory firm. “You can try to re-perform it and then re-securitize it,” he said. Wells Fargo, the largest Ginnie Mae servicer in the nation with a portfolio of $412 billion, purchased ... [1 chart]