In a report sure to be embraced by industry critics of the CFPB, the bureau’s Office of Inspector General said the agency needs to improve its management of its consumer complaint database. “We identified areas in which management controls should be improved to enhance the accuracy and completeness of the consumer complaint database,” said the OIG in a recent report. For instance, the bureau’s Office of Consumer Response “has implemented controls to monitor the accuracy of complaint data in the internal case management system, which contains all consumer complaints received by the CFPB, but it has not established separate management controls to ensure the accuracy of data extracted from the system and included in the consumer complaint database,” according to ...

Two of the biggest lenders in the land saw consumer complaints about their bank accounts and bank services rise by double digits during the second quarter, outpacing the overall industry, which saw a more modest increase during the period. An analysis by Inside the CFPB found that Bank of America and Wells Fargo experienced increases of 20.3 percent and 13.2 percent, respectively, from the first quarter of 2015 to the second quarter. Year over year, BofA saw a more moderate rise of 6.4 percent in consumer criticism, whereas Wells actually saw a 12.5 percent drop. ...

Two of the top three entities associated with money transfers saw complaints against them leap by double digits, both in the second quarter and for the first half of the year, according to a new analysis by Inside the CFPB. The top target of criticism, MoneyGram, saw complaints jump in this regard 53.5 percent and 84.7 percent, respectively, while third-ranked PayPal experienced surges of 47.1 percent and 51.8 percent, respectively, for the two time periods measured. However, second-ranked Western Union saw just a slight uptick of 3.1 percent in the second quarter, and a modest downturn at the mid-year mark versus a year ago, 3.0 percent. ...

Bureau Wants Public Input as it Requests OMB Approval of Consumer Survey of ATM/Debit Card Overdraft Disclosures. The CFPB is soliciting public comment as it seeks authorization from the White House Office of Management and Budget to carry out a national online survey of 8,000 individuals as part of its review and analysis of ATM/debit card overdraft disclosure forms. “The survey will explore consumer comprehension and decision-making in response to revised overdraft disclosure forms,” the bureau said in a recent Federal Register notice. “It will also explore financial product usage, behavioral traits, and other consumer characteristics that may interact with a consumer’s experiences with overdraft programs and related disclosure forms.” The survey will include a representative sample of the U.S. ...

Multiple Issues With TRID Remain, Official Says. Mortgage Bankers Association Vice Chairman Rodrigo Lopez told attendees at the group’s Risk Management, Quality Assurance and Fraud Prevention Forum in Dallas recently that the MBA supports additional disclosures, but that “many issues remain to be resolved” when it comes to the TILA/RESPA Integrated Disclosure (TRID) rule. “So far, the CFPB has provided only limited guidance on the new rules,” he noted. “MBA is urging the CFPB to resolve a number of issues, including differences between state and federal laws, that threaten to add layers of complexity to the mortgage loan process.” Lopez went on to say that legislation in Congress that would provide mortgage lenders with a safe harbor for their good-faith ...

Another CFPB Official Cashes In as Webster Bolts for Wells Fargo. Brian Webster, previously the originations program manager at the CFPB, has joined a handful of other top officials at the bureau who have leveraged a relatively short stint at the bureau into a private sector gig. Webster, who was only with the agency since January 2013, has left the CFPB to join Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, effective Sept. 15, 2015, where he will serve as senior vice president and lead the lender’s Financial Reform Strategy team in the Business Capabilities Development group. “He will focus on the company’s strategic direction in the evolving regulatory environment, and lead a team that interprets legislative impacts and advises the implementation and delivery ...

Last week, Angel Oak Mortgage Solutions was slated to issue a roughly $150 million security backed by nonprime mortgages, an event that promised great things for both the company and the non-agency market. But then nothing happened, or so it appears. Two weeks after confirming to Inside MBS & ABS and another news organization that a new nonprime security was definitely ready to price, the company – and its underwriter, Nomura Securities – has suddenly stopped talking about the deal, both publicly and privately. One source who has held meetings with executives at both firms said...

Documents pertaining to the conservatorship of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the controversial change that strips the government-sponsored enterprises of net worth, will remain sealed, under a September court order in a lawsuit filed by private GSE shareholders. Judge Margaret Sweeney’s ruling in Fairholme Funds v. The United States went in favor of the Federal Housing Finance Agency to keep the documents under “protected information,” denying a motion by Fairholme to release the documents. Charles Cooper, attorney with Cooper & Kirk, the law firm representing the investors, told...

The Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee this week fulfilled the expectations of roughly half the Wall Street participants and economists surveyed by financial news organizations and opted to hold the line on interest rates, and to maintain the status quo when it comes to the Fed’s massive balance sheet holdings of agency residential MBS and debt. “We recognize that there has been a great deal of focus on today’s policy decision,” Fed Chair Janet Yellen said in her press conference after the FOMC’s two-day meeting concluded Thursday afternoon. “The recovery from the Great Recession has advanced sufficiently far, and domestic spending appears sufficiently robust, that an argument can be made for a rise in interest rates at this time. We discussed this possibility at our meeting. “However, in light of the heightened uncertainties abroad, and a slightly softer expected path for inflation, the committee judged...

Meanwhile, there’s a school of thought that believes if and when the Fed hikes, mortgage rates will fall because it will show investors that the central bank is acting to curb inflation.