MBA's Gross noted that the cost of changing external auditors is “significant,” both for large and small seller/servicers, whether they are public or not.
Late last month, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced the participants in its high-profile eClosing pilot project. The bureau chose a mix of technology vendors providing eClosing solutions and lenders that have contracted to close loans using those solutions. The vendor participants are Accenture Mortgage Cadence, DocMagic, eLynx, Pavaso, and PiersonPatterson LLP. The lenders are Blanco National Bank, Boeing Employees Credit Union, Franklin First Financial, Flagstar Bank ...
HSBC Holdings is headed for trial later this month, absent a deal, after a New York federal judge rejected a last ditch effort by HSBC and Nomura Holdings to toss their mortgage-backed securities suit brought by the Federal Housing Finance Agency. U.S. District Judge Denise Cote’s ruling reaffirmed earlier rulings that the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 extended the time that the FHFA could file claims against a host of big banks.
Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s regulator has proposed tougher GSE affordable housing goals for purchase mortgages in low-income areas. Issued last week by the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the proposal would increase some of the benchmark levels for Fannie’s and Freddie’s affordable housing goals through 2017, while also establishing new housing subgoals for low-income multifamily properties.
Bank of America this week launched an appeal to overturn a jury verdict that found it liable for thousands of bad mortgages sold by Countrywide leading to a $1.27 billion judgment. U.S. District Court Judge Jed Rakoff levied the judgment in July after a New York jury last fall found the Charlotte, NC-based bank liable for fraud over a Countrywide program known in the industry as “the Hustle.”
The Inspector General of the Federal Housing Finance Agency is looking for a supervisory criminal investigator to work on what it calls “unique, complex and sensitive projects,” according to a recent employment ad posted on USAjobs.gov. The applicant, who must have a top secret security clearance, can earn anywhere from $134,000 to $227,000 per year. The in-house investigator would supervise the IG’s hotline team at least 25 percent of the time, and manage and maintain both the Computer Investigative Forensics Program and the National Firearms and Training Program of the department, among other duties.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s proposed tightening of rules for private mortgage insurers that do business with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is a “thoughtful effort,” but “modest changes” are required, conclude a trio of economists in a paper issued last week. Moody’s Analytics’ Mark Zandi and Chris deRitis and the Urban Institute’s Jim Parrott said that the FHFA’s Private Mortgage Insurance Eligibility Requirements “should succeed” in ensuring that private MI are strong counterparties to the GSEs, while serving as “a much improved bulwark against excessive risk” in the system.
A proposal from the National Credit Union Administration to permit covered credit unions to securitize loans they have originated – but not purchased – is widely seen as insufficient by the credit union industry because of that limitation. That’s likely to prompt the regulator to favorably revise the proposal in the coming months, industry analysts say. Back in June, the NCUA issued a proposal to authorize loan securitizations by credit unions, but only for loans originated, not purchased. It also proposed permitting the creation of special purpose vehicles (SPV) to hold the assets collateralizing the securities. Additionally, the proposal lists a number of minimum requirements and limitations on residuals and retained interests. The Credit Union National Association, in its comment letter to the agency, indicated...
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