A little-known case about disparate impact in housing and lending discrimination now before the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia will likely be the stage for the next legal debate on the question whether disparate-impact claims are permissible under the Fair Housing Act. It could also decide whether the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau can apply disparate impact in its examinations and investigations. With the Mount Holly, NJ, town council reportedly poised to vote on a proposed settlement, the U.S. Supreme Court, for the second time in two years, would be deprived of the opportunity to decide the fate of disparate impact. Reports indicate the town council may have a decision by Nov. 7 and a settlement could end the case, Mount Holly v. Mount Holly Garden Citizens in Action, Inc., before scheduled oral arguments on Dec. 4. The Supreme Court was poised...

Expect Senate Democrats and the White House to continue their push to see Rep. Mel Watt, D-NC, confirmed as the new director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency despite falling four votes short in a key procedural vote in the Senate last week. On Oct. 31, Senators voted 56 to 42 to limit floor debate on Watt’s nomination, well below the 60-member supermajority required to invoke cloture and shutter any potential filibuster under current Senate rules. Had Democrats been able to clear the 60-vote threshold and invoke cloture, it’s all but certain that Watt would have become the new FHFA director: the final vote on his nomination would then need only a simple majority of 51 votes. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-NV, has expressed...

While the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s proposed definition of a “qualified mortgage” is superior to the treatment FHA-insured mortgage loans would receive under the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s QM rule, it would add significant regulatory burden and costs and increase litigation risks, warned mortgage lenders. HUD’s proposed distinction between safe harbor and rebuttable presumption loans is unnecessary for FHA loans because they already meet QM requirements, according to industry trade groups. Rebuttable presumption would only impose more costs and reduce credit availability for borrowers who need FHA credit the most and likely create more confusion, lenders said. The inclusion of the FHA annual mortgage insurance premium (MIP) in the annual percentage calculation under the CFPB rule would cause...

“At the end of the day, we’re still dealing with a one-sided contract with a significant termination option,” said Jonathan Jaffe, an attorney who works on GSE buyback issues.

An active mortgage wholesaler in California is letting account executives go. Stay tuned for details.

If Freddie Mac "pays back" the U.S. Treasury by year-end will it change the debate on the future of the GSEs?

Rep. Maxine Waters, the ranking Democrat on the panel, is promising that GSE "stakeholders" will have input on her housing reform bill.

Bank of America led all residential firms in cumulative mortgage complaints: 23,004 at the end of September. Wells Fargo was a distant second with 12,261.

When it comes to auditing mortgage lenders, does the CFPB know what it’s doing? It all depends on who you talk to. Also, the FHFA cracks down on force placed insurance (again).

Housing Commissioner Carol Galante warned that with interest rates rising, the FHA may have reached a “tipping point” with its mortgage insurance premiums.