Dozens of military and veteran groups are urging Acting CFPB Director Mick Mulvaney not to weaken military lending protections. Thirty-eight groups – including the National Military and Veteran Alliance, the Student Veterans of America, and the Air Force Sergeants Association – in late August sent a letter to Mulvaney and Defense Secretary James Mattis calling for continued strong enforcement and supervision of the Military Lending Act. “We urge you to stand with ...
The CFPB late last month announced 2019 changes in dollar thresholds for several provisions under Regulation Z, implemented under the Truth in Lending Act. The bureau adjusts those amounts annually based on the percentage change reflected in the Consumer Price Index. The adjustments would affect the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009, the Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act and the ability to ...
The CFPB recently refused to set aside or modify a civil investigative demand filed against a debt collection company, the latest sign that the bureau is being tough in pursuing certain investigations, said attorneys.The CFPB filed two CIDs in 2017 under former Director Richard Cordray against Firstsource Advance regarding debt collection issues. The company then sought to set aside or modify the bureau’s second CID, but the agency denied the petition ...
The CFPB announced that it will hold a day-long symposium, “Building a Bridge to Credit Visibility,” to explore challenges many consumers face in getting credit. This event will take place on Sept. 17 in the CFPB’s Washington, DC, headquarters, and will be streamed live. The CFPB said the symposium “will convene a diverse set of stakeholders to explore challenges in overcoming barriers to expand fair, equitable, and non-discriminatory access to credit [Includes three briefs] ...
A dozen or so mortgage, housing and consumer groups are putting the final touches on a new letter to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, asking that the department not make any radical administrative changes to the operations of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, according to industry stakeholders familiar with the matter. The immediate and chief concern is that Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mel Watt could depart prematurely, throwing the balance of power over to the White House, which would then move to pick a new FHFA director. The industry fears the administration’s pick, working in tandem with Treasury, would then move to cut GSE loan limits as a test to see if the private...
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shareholders faced another hurdle last week when the Eighth Circuit Court ruled that the Treasury sweep of GSE profits was legal. In fact, in the 14-page ruling, filed on Aug. 23, the judge said, “This shareholder lawsuit crashes into a roadblock before it can get started,” and stated that the Federal Housing Finance Agency did not exceed its conservatorship powers, as the plaintiffs argued. “Congress, intentionally or otherwise, may have created a monster by handing an agency breathtakingly broad powers and insulating the exercise of those powers from judicial review. Even so, clear statutory text dictates the outcome,” said Judge David Stras in Saxton vs. the FHFA.
The examinations of the Federal Home Loan Banks’ community investment programs were not up to par, according to a recent report by the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s Office of Inspector General, which faulted the program for having examiners review their own work. The report noted that the quality control reviews of community investment examinations didn’t meet FHFA’s standard for independence. In other words, the examination specialists who performed the quality control reviews for community investment examinations didn’t follow FHFA’s guidelines because the specialist was not independent of the examination process. In fact, the IG noted, “All 11 quality control reviews of community investment examinations conducted during the 2017...
The fast-growing multifamily loan programs of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are garnering a bit of attention these days – but not necessarily for good reasons. The Federal Housing Finance Agency wants the two mortgage giants to take more precautions when selecting and monitoring their multifamily seller/servicers. Also, the FHFA’s Office of Inspector General and the FBI are investigating a multi-million-dollar mortgage fraud scheme in the multifamily sector that impacted Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac MBS. The FHFA recently issued an advisory bulletin detailing its expectations for Fannie and Freddie to institute proper controls and perform monitoring to identify and manage multifamily counterparty risks.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should focus on things like cash flow projections, diversified funding and identifying potentially adverse events to manage their liquidity risk, according to a new advisory bulletin issued late this month by the Federal Housing Finance Agency. The regulator said it expects the GSEs to use liquidity metrics that coincide with their funds management strategies and provide a comprehensive view of their liquidity risk to make sure enough funds are available, at reasonable cost, to meet potential demands. “Strong liquidity risk management enables an enterprise to be financially sound to perform its public mission and to limit and control shortfalls in cash,” said the FHFA.
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