Critics of the CFPB and industry opponents of its new ability-to-repay/“qualified mortgage” rulemaking quickly got excited when the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled recently in Noel Canning v. National Labor Relations Board that President Obama’s recess appointments of three officials to the NLRB were unconstitutional. Their hope was that the president’s appointment of Richard Cordray as director of the CFPB might similarly be invalidated. And perhaps more to the point, they hoped the...
A law firm and related parties that were sued last year by the CFPB for allegedly deceiving consumers via their mortgage loan modification operations have renewed their legal challenge to the appointment of Richard Cordray as director of the bureau, citing the recent ruling that President Obama’s recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board were unconstitutional. The defendants in CFPB v. Chance Edward Gordon asserted last week that Cordray was appointed on the same day and in the same manner in which the...
Fifty-four of the 55 Senators of the Democratic caucus in the U.S. Congress have signed a letter by Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and Banking Committee Chairman Tim Johnson of South Dakota to President Obama in support of the re-nomination of Richard Cordray to lead the CFPB and to express opposition to any structural changes to the bureau. “Under the leadership of Director Cordray, the CFPB has gotten high marks from consumer advocates and industry alike for its balanced and prudent approach to rulemaking and enforcement,”...
NCOA Booklet Required Reading for HECM Borrowers. The National Council on Aging has announced the availability of the 2013 version of “Use Your Home to Stay at Home,”, the official reverse mortgage booklet approved by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The booklet is designed to help older homeowners understands the pros and cons of a reverse mortgage. Federal law requires that all individuals who are considering a reverse mortgage go through pre-counseling by a HUD-approved counseling agency and receive a copy of the NCOA guide. The NCOA also offers other ...
The Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of the Inspector General has alerted the FHA of significant potential losses because a California-based direct endorsement lender allowed certain FHA-insured loans with prohibited restrictive covenants to be recorded. An OIG audit of 84 FHA-insured loans underwritten by Standard Pacific Mortgage of Irvine, CA, found 28 loans with unallowable restrictive covenants that were recorded in certain Florida and Arizona county registers. The loans were closed between Jan. 1, 2008, and Dec. 31, 2011, the OIG said. Of the 28 loans, 15 resulted in ...
A modest decline in FHA endorsements of jumbo loans in the fourth quarter of 2012 could presage further declines this year, following the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s recent proposal to raise the downpayment requirement to 5 percent, from 3.5 percent, for loans above $625,500. The FHA already has raised its jumbo mortgage insurance premiums to 1.55 percent annually and increased the monthly premiums on new, non-jumbo FHA mortgages by 10 basis points. The agency retained the 3.5 percent downpayment for new forward mortgages below $625,500. The increased premiums are ... [2 charts]
The VA is on pace in 2013 to shatter an old mortgage production record set in 1994, according to agency officials. Mike Frueh, director of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Home Loan Guaranty Services, said the VA is “trending” to do just about 600,000 home loans even though the home buying-and-selling season, which typically kicks off in the spring, has not yet started. The last time the VA originated that many home loans was in 1994, a banner year for VA mortgage lending to veterans and active members of the military. FY 2012 became the second best year for VA loan originations with ...
Wells Fargo suffered a big legal setback after a federal judge denied its request to enforce a consent judgment under last year’s landmark $25 billion servicing settlement to prevent a New York lawsuit from proceeding. Judge Rosemary Collyer of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia rejected Wells Fargo’s argument that the new government suit filed in Manhattan district court was improper because it violated the consent judgment against Wells Fargo and flies in the face of the judgment’s “liability release” provision. Wells Fargo argued that the allegations in a civil mortgage fraud suit filed by ...
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