As of Monday morning, none of the parties involved – FHFA, the FHFA IG, and the Council – were commenting to IMFnews. Nor were they denying the existence of an investigation.

The CFPB has been accelerating its enforcement actions in the past two months, and attorneys said Acting CFPB Director Mick Mulvaney is now defending the bureau’s enforcement power, with a new strategy and focus. “The enforcement actions are being announced more frequently now,” said Allen Denson, partner at Hudson Cook. “I expect the steady clip of settlements we’ve seen over the last two months to continue.” After Mulvaney took the reins at the ...

Kathy Kraninger, President Trump’s nominee to be the next CFPB director, last week responded to questions sent by Democrat members of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. The questions followed on the heels of a confirmation hearing earlier in July where Democrats accused the nominee of stonewalling. The Democratic lawmakers sent three lists of questions, over 10 pages, covering issues ranging from the nominee’s day-to-day job ...

The U.S. Treasury Department in a recent report urged the CFPB to rescind its payday lending rule because the states already have regulatory structures in place for the industry. “Treasury recognizes and supports the broad authority of states that have established comprehensive product restrictions and licensing requirements on nonbank short-term, small-dollar installment lenders and their products,” said the agency’s long-awaited report on fintech that was ...

The House Financial Services Committee recently cleared a bill that would change the definition of “points and fees” for the qualified-mortgage standard under the Truth in Lending Act. Introduced by Rep. Bill Posey, R-FL, the Mortgage Fairness Act of 2017, H.R. 2570, revises points and fees when determining whether a loan is a “high-cost mortgage.” The bill passed through the committee on a 34-22 vote. The revised definition excludes from points and fees ...

A federal judge in Ohio recently sided with a law firm in a debt collection enforcement action taken by the CFPB. Industry attorneys said the ruling calls into question whether the bureau should bring future actions against such firms. The CFPB filed a lawsuit in April 2017 against the debt collection law firm Weltman, Weinberg & Reis for falsely representing in collection letters sent to consumers that attorneys were involved in collecting the debt. In most cases ...

A progressive group recently filed a lawsuit against the CFPB and the Office of Management and Budget for allegedly failing to provide records on Kathy Kraninger, President Trump’s nominee to become the next director of the CFPB. Allied Progress, a consumer watchdog, said in the lawsuit that it is suing to compel the agencies to respond to Freedom of Information Act requests for records associated with Kraninger. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court ...

Mortgage lenders want the CFPB to exempt single-family residential construction loans from the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act / Truth in Lending Act Integrated Disclosure Rule. The TRID rule implemented by former Director Richard Cordray expressly applies to most construction loans that are secured, closed-end consumer credit transactions. Such loans are subject to the same extensive cost and term TRID disclosures as permanent purchase ...

Two public interest groups recently asked the CFPB’s inspector general to open an investigation into Acting Director Mick Mulvaney’s relationship with the payday lending industry. Americans for Financial Reform and Change to Win requested the IG, Mark Bialek, investigate whether Mulvaney has violated ethics regulations governing the conduct of executive branch employees by giving preferential treatment to the payday lending industry. Americans for Financial Reform ...

The Federal Reserve Board recently reminded banks that redlining remains a compliance concern for the central bank. Redlining is a form of illegal discrimination in which a financial services institution provides unequal access to credit in certain markets based on the race, color or national origin of its residents. The CFPB in the past has brought several public enforcement actions for redlining. The Fed released its Consumer Compliance Supervision Bulletin ...