The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s effort to go after corporate executives in connection with its financial-crisis enforcement actions so far has led to 12 cases in which individuals were named as defendants or respondents. Individuals who have been included in CFPB complaints are primarily decision-makers or a party to the consumer transaction. Under the law, they include not only providers of consumer financial products or services, but also those with managerial responsibilities and a “material” participant in the transaction. Individual accountability is...

Among the 12 questions that the FHFA asks the public to consider is this: “If the enterprises [Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac] continue to raise g-fees, will overall loan originations decrease?”

Individual accountability is the regulatory catchphrase of the moment not only at the CFPB but at the Securities and Exchange Commission and state regulatory agencies as well.

The spring 2014 semi-annual regulatory agenda of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau indicates the CFPB remains on schedule on a handful of mortgage-related rulemakings, including an eventual rule implementing Dodd-Frank Act changes to the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act. The good news for the mortgage industry is that the bulk of Dodd-Frank-required mortgage rules have already been issued. On the HMDA front, the CFPB recently convened...

Aurora Loan Services, once a huge player in the non-agency subprime and Alt A market, has agreed to resolve a class-action lawsuit alleging it duped distressed borrowers into paying monthly fees on nonperforming loans that were already destined for foreclosure. The $5.3 million settlement will be split among 15,000 California borrowers who signed bogus loan-workout agreements with the false hope of curing their deficiencies and keeping their homes. Borrowers claimed that Aurora had misled them into thinking that their foreclosures were on hold while they were being considered for loan modification. In reality, however, Aurora’s policy was...

There has been a resurgence of city lawsuits lately against major banks seeking to recover lost property tax revenues, which city officials say were needed to pay for expensive foreclosure-related city services. The latest in these lawsuits was filed by the City of Los Angeles against JPMorgan Chase alleging discriminatory mortgage lending led to a wave of foreclosures that continues to diminish revenue for basic city services. The new litigation against Chase comes...

When it comes to the legal theory of disparate impact and the Supreme Court of the United States, perhaps the third time around will be the charm. Recently, the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs requested the nation’s highest court to agree once again to take on the issue of disparate impact under the Fair Housing Act. The questions presented to the high court in Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs, et al., Petitioners v. The Inclusive Communities Project, Inc. are...

While lenders affiliated with homebuilders tend to lend to riskier borrowers than other originators, their mortgages actually perform better, according to new research published by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. The researchers suggest that the stronger performance is related to the hands-on nature of homebuilder lending, among other factors. The Chicago Fed published the findings in a study authored by Sumit Agarwal, Gene Amromin, Claudine Gartenberg, Anna Paulson and Sriram Villupuram, who note that their findings run counter to assumptions about the quality of builder-affiliate originations. “At first glance, the allegations of the nefarious role played by the homebuilders in the crisis are consistent...

Industry observers believe that FHFA Director Mel Watt – who has been on the job since early January – wants to open up the “credit box” for low- and moderate-income borrowers.

The good news for the mortgage industry is that the bulk of Dodd-Frank-required mortgage rules have already been issued.