Some of the largest servicers could be violating fair-lending laws, according to an analysis by a the Government Accountability Office, while an alphabet soup of federal regulators overseeing fair lending issues appears to be treating servicing concerns like a hot potato. In a report issued late last week, the GAO said its analysis of loan-level data for the four largest servicers participating in the Home Affordable Modification Program suggests that there are fair-lending concerns that merit further examination. While the GAO didn’t identify the servicers, the four largest HAMP servicers are Ocwen Loan Servicing, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America, according to the Treasury. The GAO found...
The ink was barely dry on complex new mortgage-disclosure forms and regulatory requirements when the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau floated a new trial balloon: how to improve the mortgage-closing process and its “pain points” for lenders and consumers. Although some industry groups said it is too soon to get into another massive overhaul, others pointed to the forest of overlapping and confusing documents as a good place to start. Michael Heid, president of Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, told...
So much has been said in recent days about a possible yet cautious return to subprime mortgage lending as lenders lowered their credit-score requirements for FHA mortgages and other agency loans with certain limitations. Industry participants, however, say today’s “subprime” is a misnomer and certainly not the same toxic subprime mortgage product that pushed the U.S. financial system to the brink of collapse. Lenders are more cautious in the post-subprime era and they no longer practice risk layering on loans to borrowers with less-than-stellar credit histories as they did in the past, industry observers say. “In the past, lenders combined risk layering with low credit scores,” said Brian Chappelle, a mortgage industry consultant. “Today, I would be shocked if any lender used Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or the FHA as a vehicle for traditional subprime because they would be ignoring the possibility of repurchase or indemnification.” Lenders today are...
Lenders are more cautious in the post-subprime era and they no longer practice “risk layering” on loans to borrowers with less-than-stellar credit histories as they did in the past.
The SEC was poised to issue a final rule with loan-level disclosure requirements for non-agency MBS earlier this month. The SFIG said it expects the SEC will issue a final rule on the so-called Regulation AB2 “in the near future.”
Public mention of the Treasury memo was first made earlier this month by former Solicitor General Ted Olson at a GSE shareholders rights advocacy forum in Washington.
Two nonbanks among the top five servicers now control almost 9 percent of the residential receivables market. Should regulators be worried? Should the MBA?
New Document Delivery Solution Aims to Boost Lenders’ Efforts to Meet CFPB Appraisal Delivery Requirements. Black Knight Financial Services of Jacksonville, FL, recently launched its Document Delivery Service to help lenders deliver CFPB-mandated appraisals to consumers. “The service enables lenders to securely and reliably deliver the documents in both electronic and paper formats, helping lenders comply with the bureau’s recent amendment to Regulation B, which implements the provisions of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act,” the company said...
RSS