The Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee appears to be repeating last year’s story line of promising multiple increases in interest rates at the start of the year, only to delay and delay until the final month, when it finally raised rates a bare minimum of 25 basis points. This month, the Fed passed on another opportunity to raise rates and suggested to many in the market that it finally will ratchet the federal funds target rate up a notch at its final meeting of the year in mid-December. The FOMC said the labor market has continued to strengthen and economic activity has picked up from the modest pace seen in the first half of this year. “Although the unemployment rate is little changed in recent months, job gains have been solid,” the committee said. Meanwhile, household spending has risen...

New regulations from the Treasury Department and IRS regarding “earnings stripping” tax-avoidance schemes by multi-national companies will apply to ABS in certain circumstances, causing problems for issuers and investors, according to industry analysts. The regulations aim to reduce the benefits of corporate tax inversions and earnings stripping by distinguishing debt from equity. “Earnings stripping can reduce a company’s tax bill by generating large interest deductions when that company simply increases its debt to an affiliated foreign firm, without financing new investment in the U.S.,” Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said when announcing the new regulations in October. The regulations generally apply...

Barclays plc is reportedly working out a deal with the Department of Justice for a much lower settlement amount to resolve non-agency MBS and ongoing multi-agency investigations of other mortgage-related matters, according to a recent Bloomberg report. Citing a source “with knowledge of the situation,” the news service said the London-based bank has rejected an initial amount offered by the DOJ, aiming instead to limit the settlement to no more than $2 billion, possibly less. The report didn’t disclose the amount DOJ offered, although industry observers speculated it might be significantly more than what the firm is willing to pay. Like many U.S. and European banks, Barclays was...

Participants in the non-agency market are concerned that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau hasn’t done enough to provide lenders and investors with certainty regarding the liability associated with the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure rule. The CFPB issued a proposed rule in August that would clarify a number of concerns regarding TRID. But the bureau’s proposed rule didn’t include guidance CFPB Director Richard Cordray had detailed in a Dec. 29 letter to the Mortgage ...

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recently forced “one or more lenders” to take corrective actions regarding income-verification practices for non-qualified mortgages. The CFPB said the lenders weren’t verifying borrowers’ income properly under the ability-to-repay rule. The CFPB found that some lenders offered non-QMs that allowed for “alternative income documentation” for salaried borrowers. The CFPB said the products offered by the lenders relied primarily on the assets of ...

Are mortgage account executives overpaid?

The Department of Veterans Affairs is proposing to establish fees for originating and servicing vendee loans. Vendee loans are not veterans’ benefits and are distinct from VA-guaranteed loans, the agency clarified in a proposed rule published in the Oct. 26 Federal Register. Vendee financing is...

The Department of Veterans Affairs has proposed to allow eligible veterans to purchase less than the minimum amount of mortgage life insurance coverage required for their VA loan to help them reduce out-of-pocket costs. The proposed rule is aimed at helping VA borrowers lower their premiums and amend current VA regulations to reflect an increase in the statutory maximum amount of coverage available under the Veterans Mortgage Life Insurance (VMLI) program. The VA established...

Bank of America – the nation’s third largest residential originator – this week gave its mortgage loan officers an edict: start taking applications for auto loans as well. Going forward, mortgage loan officers will be known simply as “loan officers.” A BofA spokesman confirmed the changes to Inside Mortgage Finance, but cautioned that LOs will not be taking applications for checking accounts and credit cards, though referrals can be made to other divisions of the bank. BofA watchers, as well as the bank’s competitors, were scratching...

After hearing lenders’ concerns about the increased reporting burden they would face from some of the changes that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac want to make to their Uniform Closing Dataset requirements, the two government-sponsored enterprises agreed to postpone the requirement to provide the seller closing data for one year. “The GSEs understand the difficulties that acquiring the seller data presents, particularly as many lenders are still working through their processes to obtain the seller closing disclosure and data from settlement companies,” the pair said late last month in letters to the Mortgage Bankers Association. “In recognition of these challenges, the GSEs have agreed...