The group of regulators that established the $25 billion national servicing settlement with five servicers is in negotiations to expand the settlement’s requirements and monetary penalties to other servicers. Some servicers involved in the negotiations are willing to comply with the servicing requirements but objecting to paying any penalties. “We continue to have productive discussions with the state regulators, state attorneys general and the [Consumer Financial Protection Bureau] on adopting standards similar to the national mortgage standards adopted by the big banks,” Ronald Faris, president and CEO of Ocwen Financial, said last week during the company’s earnings call for the fourth quarter of 2012. “Ocwen Loan Servicing and other servicers have also been asked...
When a lender like Wells Fargo – the top lender and servicer in the industry – describes a lengthy list of “pain points” in the new loan originator compensation rule issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, it’s fair to conclude the rule presents a huge challenge for mere mortals. During an Inside Mortgage Finance webinar last week on the bureau’s final rule, Amy Thoreson Long, senior counsel in the consumer lending division of Wells’ law department in Minneapolis, started with one of the most visceral issues for lenders: the human impact. “One of the big key things here is...
The Mortgage Bankers Association urged the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to give all FHA loans a “conclusive presumption of compliance” with qualified mortgage requirements and to revise the QM annual percentage rate/average prime offer rate (APR/APOR) threshold for FHA loans at least until the agency issues its own QM rule. Failure to make the adjustments could severely restrict the availability of FHA loans to lower-income first-time homebuyers, which is the FHA’s traditional market, the trade group said. In comments on the CFPB’s final ability-to-repay rule, the MBA said...
Citadel Servicing has raised $200 million in capital to originate residential subprime mortgages. Does this mean subprime lending is "back"? Answer: yes and no.
This week’s effort by a quartet of former Washington heavyweights to “jump start” the debate over the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the form of a new, but familiar, mortgage reform proposal put GSE overhaul back in the headlines. Industry observers say that’s a plus, but it remains to be seen whether it will ultimately affect policy change. The Bipartisan Policy Center, comprised of former Republican and Democrat lawmakers and cabinet officials, issued a plan calling for the phasing out of the GSEs in favor of a new federal entity that explicitly acts as a backstop of last resort after the private sector.
Freddie Mac ended 2012 with its single best quarterly showing since the company was placed into government conservatorship by the Federal Housing Finance Agency at the height of mortgage market implosion 4½ years ago. The GSE late this week posted fourth quarter net income of $4.5 billion. Compared to the third quarter’s earnings of $2.9 billion, profits grew by 55 percent, the company noted in its Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency hasn’t totally abandoned the idea of restructuring how mortgage servicers make a living and may take a second look at its “fee for service” proposal, according to industry executives close to the issue. A year ago, the FHFA shelved its fee for service (FFS) proposal, which would have replaced the current 25 basis point minimum fee with a flat payment of $10 per month for performing loans. This was just…
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