Monique Rollins, deputy assistant secretary for the Treasury Department’s Office of Capital Markets, said the Treasury supports industry-driven efforts.
It may just be a matter of time before CFPB Director Richard Cordray accuses the mortgage industry of “crying wolf” again, this time over inflated warnings about the damage to the housing markets the industry said would result from the bureau’s much-ballyhooed integrated disclosure rule. The CFPB’s Truth in Lending Act/Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act Integrated Disclosure rule kicked in Oct. 3, 2015. And even though some industry vendors were scrambling to deliver software updates into the evening the night before, it looks like the rule has had little immediate effect on the markets, according to the results of the latest HousingPulse survey sponsored by Inside Mortgage Finance, an affiliated publication, along with Campbell Surveys, which performed the survey. “While ...
The U.S. House of Representatives voted 255 to 174 recently to expand the CFPB’s qualified mortgage safe harbor to include all residential mortgages held in the originating lender’s portfolio. Similar legislative language exists in S. 1484, the Financial Regulatory Improvement Act of 2015, the regulatory relief bill pushed by Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee Chairman Richard Shelby, R-AL, which is going to be incorporated into appropriations legislation shortly. The big questions now are whether those QM provisions will remain attached to the next spending bill as it moves through the nation’s legislature, and if so, whether congressional Republicans can again succeed in using the appropriations process to bypass Democrat opposition. Now the bad news: The White House has ...
The new and modified data required under the CFPB’s recently released Home Mortgage Disclosure Act final rule will probably result in greater regulatory and legal scrutiny of mortgage lenders, so covered institutions should take a proactive approach to implementation, according to top legal experts. In a recent client alert, the attorneys in the mortgage banking and consumer financial services groups at the Ballard Spahr law firm noted that the new and modified data will include “much more detail about applicants, borrowers, credit, collateral, loan type, pricing, fees, charges, the originator, and the covered institution. The new and modified data will enable regulators and private parties to analyze a lender’s practices in much greater detail than is currently possible.” Analyses of ...
The CFPB indicated in its recently released 2015 rulemaking agenda that it is continuing to finalize a proposal it published in December 2014 to amend certain aspects of the bureau’s 2013 mortgage servicing rules. The proposal addressed, among other things, enhanced loss mitigation requirements and compliance with certain rules when the borrower is a potential or confirmed successor in interest or is in bankruptcy. “We have been conducting testing of periodic statements for consumers in bankruptcy and are working to develop the final rule for issuance in mid-2016,” the CFPB said. The bureau also will continue working to support implementation of the multiple mortgage rules required by the Dodd-Frank Act, such as the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act rule, the integrated ...
The CFPB brought an administrative action earlier this month against a now-defunct online lender, Integrity Advance, and its CEO, James Carnes, for allegedly deceiving consumers about the cost of short-term loans – particularly the costs consumers would pay under the default terms of the contracts.The unlawful practices alleged by the CFPB include hiding the total cost of loans. According to the bureau, the lender gave consumers contracts with disclosures based on repaying the loan in a single payment, even though the default terms of the contract called for multiple rollovers and additional finance charges. “For example, under Integrity Advance’s default payment schedule, a consumer borrowing $300 would ultimately pay $765 in finance charges – $675 more than the $90 finance charge ...
The CFPB recently petitioned the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to enforce a civil investigative demand (CID) it issued back in August to the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS), despite congressional objections and arm-twisting. The CID was issued during a bureau probe of possible violations of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 or other federal consumer financial protection laws. “The CID issued to ACICS relates to a bureau investigation to determine whether any entity or person has engaged or is engaging in unlawful acts and practices in connection with accrediting of for-profit colleges” in violation of CFPA provisions addressing unfair, deceptive or abusive acts or practices, the CFPB told the court. The demand ...
U.S. Rep. Nydia Velázquez, D-NY, the ranking member on the House Small Business Committee, recently wrote to CFPB Director Richard Cordray for information about the role his agency has in regulating online lending to small businesses. She also wanted to know what federal laws under the bureau's jurisdiction apply to small business borrowers and retail investors participating in the online lending marketplace. Additionally, Velázquez inquired about what resources the CFPB has devoted to the regulation of online lending marketplaces. She also asked if the bureau has the necessary legal authority to protect small business borrowers and retail investors when it comes to online lending. Further, Velázquez inquired of Cordray what statutory changes, additional legal authorities and resources are necessary to ...