Tammy Butler, the director of fair lending and compliance for Optimal Blue, a leading pricing engine, said she’s been hearing from one attorney and industry consultant after another that the time of mortgage lenders naming their fees just to re‐name profit is not going to go over well with the CFPB. “In fact, those who have been through the exams or been fined have learned the hard way that complete transparency to the consumer is a must,” Butler said.For instance, Butler has heard some lenders plan on lumping a...

There are plenty of challenges associated with the CFPB’s new standards for error notices and information requests, which are part of the bureau’s new mortgage servicing standards, and policy analysts at PricewaterhouseCoopers have some compliance suggestions to help companies measure up. “The new standards for error notices and information requests are expected to have a substantial impact on all mortgage servicers,” the PwC analysts said in a recent overview. “Implementing the changes will require careful review and possibly...

The CFPB may need to reach out more to consumers in areas that face the highest risk of foreclosure, and intensify pressure on lenders that serve older Americans, according to a new analysis of the CFPB’s consumer complaint database by a handful of faculty members at the Yale University School of Law. Analyzing a new data set of 110,000 consumer complaints lodged with the bureau, they found that Bank of America, Citibank and PNC Bank were “significantly less timely in responding to consumer complaints than the average financial...

Bureau to Evaluate Effect of Bundled Financial Products on Economically Vulnerable Consumers. Earlier this month, the CFPB published a notice and request for comment indicating it plans a data collection and review of bundled financial products and services in order to understand their effects on the financial decision-making of economically vulnerable consumers in the United States, especially as it relates to asset building and financial capability. Comments are invited on whether the collection of information is necessary for...

Nonbanks the likes Ocwen Financial, Nationstar and Walter Investment will continue to be buyers of mortgage servicing rights.

In a letter to DOJ, Sen. Warren said the federal government could have gotten more for FHA under the False Claims Act’s treble damages provision.

Late this week, some reports surfaced suggesting that an “alternative” proposal could surface, requiring a 30 percent downpayment for QRM status.

CFPB examiners found numerous loss mitigation mistakes, including inconsistent communications with borrowers, spotty loss mitigation underwriting and long application review periods. All this could lead to new regulations for servicers.

Parties to trustee lawsuits challenging a city’s use of eminent domain to deal with foreclosures are gearing up for a face-off at an injunction hearing Sept. 13 in federal district court in San Francisco. The city of Richmond, CA, the defendant in the lawsuit, has suffered setbacks in the last few days and has yet to make good on its threat to initiate eminent domain proceedings after investor trustees rejected its offer to purchase distressed mortgages for restructuring. Wells Fargo and Deutsche Bank, acting as trustees for a group of ...

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-MA, is asking the Department of Justice to explain why it failed to get “adequate” compensation from major mortgage servicers for fraud committed against the FHA. In an Aug. 21 letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, Warren raised concerns about the $225 million paid by five servicers last year to obtain releases from False Claims Act liability stemming from fraudulent mortgage insurance claims the servicers submitted to FHA and other agencies from 2008 to 2010. The FHA’s woeful financial condition led to legislative reform efforts, including the ...