Nonbank mortgage lenders are starting to complain more loudly about the length of time it takes to get their loan officers approved to do business in New York state, quoting approval times that can take anywhere from 90 to 120 days – and that’s for an application with no “red flags.” A mortgage consultant who works closely with nonbanks estimated that some of his LO clients have waited as long as six months, including both new LOs and bank loan officers who are transferring to a nondepository. Requesting anonymity, he said...

Processing times for income verification provided by the Internal Revenue Service have slowed in recent months, causing problems for lenders. The IRS pinned the delays on budget cuts, prompting the Mortgage Bankers Association to call for an evaluation of the “true cause” of the delays. The IRS charges $2 per request to provide a taxpayer’s tax transcript to lenders via a third-party vendor. Stephen O’Connor, a senior vice president of public policy and industry relations at the MBA, said historically, the turn time for the Income Verification Express Service program has been around two business days or less. “In recent months, however, lenders have reported...

Although PHH Corp. refuses to answer questions regarding a key private-label services contract to originate mortgage loans for Merrill Lynch, most analysts that follow the company believe the Wall Street giant will renew the agreement. To date, PHH will not say either way, but observers of the situation believe it’s more a technical matter than anything else. The general consensus is that Merrill has verbally agreed to renew, but hasn’t signed on the dotted line. On its recent earnings call, PHH management said...

HUD's Neighborhood Watch system is down, but this cabinet level agency has no explanations for the press or public

Historically, the turn time for the Income Verification Express Service program has been around two business days or less. Not anymore.

Meanwhile, Ocwen has been shifting as many of its servicing workers overseas as possible...

The Blackstone Group has finally lifted the 'cone of silence' on its acquisition of mortgage lenders. But will it disclose origination figures?

CFPB Sends Questionnaire to Debt Collection Entities. The CFPB recently sent a questionnaire to a variety of debt collection firms, creditors and service providers in an effort to help the bureau “better understand operational costs and other factors associated with debt collection.” Noting that participation is voluntary, the consumer regulator said industry responses “will inform the bureau’s analysis of the costs and benefits of potential new rules related to debt collection.” The questionnaire asks about basic activities and operational costs of collecting debt, including, for example, questions about vendors used for activities such as dialers or print mailings, maintaining data about consumer accounts, and furnishing information to credit bureaus. “After we have received the questionnaire responses, we plan to reach ...

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District Columbia recently issued a stay against a $109.2 million fine levied by the bureau against PHH Corp. related to the lender’s captive mortgage insurance activities. The bureau had initiated an administrative proceeding against the nonbank lender, accusing it of harming consumers through a mortgage insurance kickback scheme tied to a captive MI. A judge agreed and recommended a penalty of just $6.4 million, which the CFPB ignored and jacked up to $109.2 million, a figure the regulator argued represented all the MI premiums received after July 2008. What startled the industry was the CFPB’s decision to throw out previous guidance from the Department of Housing and Urban Development under which PHH and ...

Subsequent to the publication deadline for the previous issue of Inside the CFPB, American Honda Finance Corp. submitted a statement in response to the enforcement action brought against it late last month by the CFPB and the Department of Justice.“AHFC strongly opposes any form of discrimination, and we expect our dealers to uphold this principle as well,” said the lender. “We firmly believe that our lending practices have been fair and transparent. “AHFC has a difference of opinion with the CFPB and the DOJ regarding the methodology used to make determinations about lending practices, but we nonetheless share a fundamental agreement in the importance of fair lending,” the company added.In cooperation with the CFPB and the DOJ, AHFC...