Mortgage lending industry representatives called on the CFPB to establish a range of data safeguards if the agency intends to proceed with its expressed interest in “normalizing” its consumer complaint data.For the bureau’s purposes, “normalizing” the data refers to ways in which the agency could take the raw data it receives from its consumer complaint online portal and transform it to make it meaningful and useful to the general public.In commenting on the bureau’s recently released request for information on the subject, the American Bankers Association said it generally supports the concept and objective of providing context for the data. However, it “does not believe that any normalization strategy should proceed unless and until the bureau adopts measures ...

Consumer complaints to the CFPB about credit reporting were down slightly from the first quarter and up modestly at the mid-year mark versus a year ago, according to an analysis by Inside the CFPB. However, some dramatic differences were in play among the top 10 subjects of complaints. The most notable exception to the overall moderate trend line was sixth-ranked CoreLogic, which saw consumer gripes skyrocket an eye-popping 900.0 percent at the six-month mark compared to 2014. LexisNexis was also bad, with a 241.7 percent leap during the same time period. And Early Warning Services turned in the third-worst performance among the top 10, demonstrating a 100.0 percent increase in consumer criticisms. Overall, however, the results were far tamer. First ...

The CFPB’s Office of Human Capital does not always follow the control activities it established to enforce management’s directives when it comes to recruiting and selecting employees, according to a new report from the Office of Inspector General (OIG) for the Federal Reserve and CFPB. Further, “Although recent OHC initiatives have strengthened control activities, we found that OHC’s internal controls can be further enhanced,” said the OIG. For example, the CFPB can improve its ability to track and measure the timeliness of its hiring, as well as monitor recruitment and selection activities for potential deficiencies. The OIG then cited the U.S. Government Accountability Office’s Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government, which state that internal control contributes to management’s ...

The CFPB can do a better job with its contract management processes and related controls, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) for the Federal Reserve and CFPB said in a new report. One problem detected was that certain payments did not conform to federal guidelines. “In general, we found the CFPB to be in compliance with applicable laws, regulations and CFPB policies and procedures, although we noted that certain contract management controls could have been improved in three contracts among the 29 contracts in our sample,” the report stated. The three contracts represented $6.2 million out of the OIG sample’s total value of $166 million. “In the first contract, the CFPB made payments that did not conform to the contract ...

The CFPB and the Federal Housing Finance Agency jointly released two technical reports recently about the development of the National Mortgage Database (NMDB) and the quarterly National Survey of Mortgage Borrowers (NSMB). The NMDB project is a multi-year project being jointly undertaken by the two agencies. “The project is designed to provide a rich source of information about the U.S. mortgage market based on a five percent sample of residential mortgages,” the first technical report stated. The NMDB will enable the FHFA to meet current statutory requirements to conduct a national mortgage market survey, collect data on the characteristics of individual mortgages, including those eligible for purchase by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and those that are not, and including ...

FDIC Official Calls for Broader QM Parameters. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Vice Chairman Thomas Hoenig recently came out in support of congressional legislation to expand the kinds of loans that can be deemed qualified mortgages under the CFPB’s ability-to-repay rule. However, with Congress coming back from its annual August recess this week, the biggest hurdle facing such measures may be whether lawmakers feel enough urgency to act by year’s end. Among other provisions, Hoenig called for mortgages held in portfolios of certain banks to be defined as QMs and receive the protections established by the bureau for such mortgages. To qualify, under Hoenig’s proposal, banks would have to be “more traditional” institutions that emphasize the core commercial banking model and ...

FCC Order Conflicts With CFPB Mortgage Servicing Rules, Other Foreclosure Prevention Efforts, Industry Group Says. A recent order from the Federal Communications Commission clarifying certain provisions of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act clashes with the CFPB’s mortgage servicing rule and other federal regulations designed to help struggling homeowners hold onto their homes, a representative of national mortgage lenders, servicers and service providers wrote top government officials last week. The FCC’s order, released June 18, 2015, aims to bolster consumer protections against unwanted telephone calls and texts by, in part, restricting the ability of mortgage servicers, debt collectors and others to make autodialed or prerecorded phone calls without prior express consent of the person called. Violators face strict liability for noncompliance...

M&T Bank Settles Allegations It Used ‘Neighborhood Racial Criteria’ for Mortgage Product. A court approved M&T Bank's settlement with the Fair Housing Justice Center under which the Buffalo, NY-based bank will pay $485,000 while agreeing to revise its residential origination policies. The nonprofit FHJC filed a lawsuit in February after investigating the bank’s “Get Started Program.” The mortgage product is aimed at homes in “majority minority” neighborhoods or in low- or moderate-income areas. The product is for first-time homebuyers and it allows for low downpayments and the ability to finance closing costs. The FHJC found that M&T loan officers discriminated against potential borrowers based on race and national origin, alleging violations of the Fair Housing Act. Among other issues, minority ...

If consent is unavailable, the phone call is impermissible, absent the use of technology the mortgage lending industry generally views as obsolete, such as a rotary or push-button telephone.

Angel Oak Mortgage Solutions in Atlanta hopes to price its first-ever nonprime MBS sometime next week – a $150 million bond issued through Nomura Securities, a top Angel Oak executive told Inside MBS & ABS. Mike Fierman, managing partner and CEO of Angel Oak Companies, an affiliate of the lender, said officials have been on an investor road show the past week or so, crisscrossing the country. “Investors love...