The alternatives to credit ratings mandated by the Dodd-Frank Act aimed to address contributors to the financial crisis have their own challenges, according to a new report from the Treasury Department’s Office of Financial Research. John Soroushian, a research analyst for policy studies at the OFR, noted that before the financial crisis, rating services had an incentive to inflate ratings for MBS, ABS and other investments to expand their business. He said rating services were “key enablers” in the creation of MBS and collateralized-debt obligations. “Without ratings, it would have been...

The Federal Reserve Open Market Committee concluded its regularly scheduled meeting earlier this week and, to no one’s surprise, decided yet again to keep its interest rate powder dry for the time being. The people who parse FOMC statements for a living derived some nuanced significance from a few wording changes, but are split on whether and when there will be an increase this year. The Fed noted that labor market conditions have improved further even as growth in economic activity appears to have slowed. “Growth in household spending has moderated, although households’ real income has risen at a solid rate and consumer sentiment remains high,” said the U.S. central bank. “Since the beginning of the year, the housing sector has improved further but business fixed investment and net exports have been soft.” Meanwhile, inflation has continued...

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has proposed technical corrections and changes to its codified accounting handbook for private companies, including revisions to guidance relating to FHA and VA loans as well as transfers and servicing of financial assets. The proposed updates respond to suggestions by stakeholders and affect a wide variety of topics in the Accounting Standards Codification, which was established in September 2009 as a comprehensive source of authoritative generally accepted accounting principles used by the private sector. Among other things, a proposed amendment to Subtopic 860-20, Transfers and Servicing – Sales of Financial Assets would add...

Was the TRID mess overblown? Tell that to all the mortgage firms that lost money on deals...

Most borrowers are having a positive experience with the new loan estimate and closing disclosure forms now in use under the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s integrated disclosure rule known as TRID, according to a new survey from TD Bank. The rule integrates the consumer disclosures required under both the Truth in Lending Act and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act. Of those responding to the survey, 40 percent reported having had an “excellent” experience ...

Recent legal developments bode well for GSE shareholder lawsuits, according to one of the attorneys involved in the Perry Capital LLC v. Lew et al case where shareholders question the validity of the Treasury sweep of the profits of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.The D.C. Circuit Court heard oral arguments in the case on April 15 before three federal judges. The oral arguments took place as part of the appeal of the Fairholme Funds case dismissal in 2014, in which investors argued that the Treasury sweep violated the Housing and Economic Recovery Act. Hamish Hume, partner with Boies Schiller & Flexner, who argued before the panel of judges, said...

However, the new Cordray letter provides no details on where it will land on errors.

Molly Boesel, a senior economist at CoreLogic, noted that in judicial states, servicers must provide evidence of delinquency to the courts in order to move a borrower into foreclosure.

Comments are due on Friday from working group members that have been participating in the effort.

The publicly traded servicer/originator took in $330.7 million in revenue, a 35.2 percent decline from 1Q15. Its origination revenue was a meager $23.2 million…