In early September, in an exclusive report, Inside Mortgage Finance broke the news about funding delays at the company. At the time, a Nationstar spokesman blamed the situation on the changing of document custodian vendors. (It would not name the vendor.)
Prospect Mortgage had roughly $975 million in committed warehouse lines at yearend. Its three largest providers include UBS Securities, Bank of America/Merrill Lynch and Fannie Mae.
Mortgage bankers are concerned how the proposed FHA fee will be applied and whether it may cause lenders to become even more cautious and less incented to use the full FHA credit box.
GOP senators recently dispatched a letter to FHFA Director Mel Watt, countering a plea signed by 33 Democrats in January calling on the agency director to immediately authorize GSE funding to the National Housing Trust Fund and the Capital Magnet Fund.
When survey participants were asked to what extent the QM rule would affect their business, the most frequent responses were 10.1 percent to 20 percent and 90.1 percent to 100 percent, each of which snagged 20 percent shares of the responses.
Adam Levitin, a professor at Georgetown University Law Center, is critical of efforts to align the QRM rule with the QM. “Skin in the game is meant to be a systemic stability regulation, but it has instead been pegged to a consumer protection regulation,” he said.
Bureau Extends Deadline to Apply for Industry Advisory Positions. The CFPB recently extended the application deadline for positions on its Credit Union Advisory Council and Community Bank Advisory Council until March 14, 2014. The bureau said it is looking for experts in consumer financial products or services, as well as experts in consumer protection, community development, consumer finance, fair lending and civil rights. It also wants representatives of banks that primarily serve underserved communities, as well as those from communities that have been significantly affected by higher priced mortgage loans.
Late last month, briefs were filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit by the appellants in State National Bank of Big Spring, Texas, et al. v. Lew, et al., a case which includes a lingering challenge to the CFPB's constitutionality. The private appellants in the case are State National Bank of Big Spring, and two DC area non-profit organizations, the 60 Plus Association and The Competitive Enterprise Institute. Originally, they challenged the constitutionality of CFPB Director Richard Cordray's recess appointment, while also asserting that the bureau’s structure and authority were in violation of the Constitution's separation of powers.