Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac late this year will raise guaranty fees on single-family mortgages by another 10 basis points, under a directive that the government-sponsored enterprises’ conservator announced late last week. The g-fee increases will be effective on Dec. 1, 2012, for loans exchanged for mortgage-backed securities, and on Nov. 1, 2012, for loans sold for cash. According to FHFA Acting Director Edward DeMarco, who telegraphed the move in a notification to Congress earlier this summer, the g-fee increases are designed...

The initial progress report released last week on the national mortgage settlement drew attention to the early loss mitigation completed by the five banks participating in the settlement. However, Joseph Smith, the monitor of the $25.0 billion settlement, has also stressed that he is looking for noncompliance with the settlement’s 304 servicing standards. The Office of Mortgage Settlement Oversight allows borrowers and professionals assisting homeowners to detail experiences with servicers participating in the settlement. “It’s important for people in the marketplace to let me know if they see conduct that they think violates the settlement agreement,” Smith said. Smith said he has received...

The Small Business Administration is urging the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to delay making any changes until it has fully analyzed the impact of a proposed rule establishing new disclosure requirements and forms under integrated federal consumer protection regulations. Speaking on behalf of small banks and settlement service providers, the SBA’s Office of Advocacy in a comment letter warned that proposed changes to the finance charge and to the high-cost mortgage coverage test could potentially lead some small businesses to leave the marketplace or stop making mortgage loans. In addition, the agency reiterated its concerns about the inadequate notice for small entities about the proposal. On Aug. 23, the CFPB published...

The five big banks that are parties to the $25 billion national mortgage servicing settlement have granted more than $10 billion in consumer relief to borrowers – more than 80 percent of which took the form of short sales – between March 1 and June 30, 2012, according to a progress report from the Office of Mortgage Settlement Oversight. “Overall, 137,846 borrowers received some type of consumer relief during this period totaling $10.56 billion, which, on average, represents about $76,615 per borrower,”...

The U.S. Department of Justice showed its willingness to go after relative unknowns as well as the name brands in reaching a multi-million-dollar “pattern or practice” fair lending settlement with GFI Mortgage Bankers Inc., the mortgage banking unit of GFI Capital Resources Group that funds roughly $1 billion in residential mortgage loans annually. The federal government alleged that GFI engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination by charging qualified African-American and Hispanic borrowers more for their...

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has extended the comment period for proposed changes that would create a new, higher “all in” annual percentage rate calculation and establish a new high-cost mortgage coverage test. Comments on the changes were proposed July 9 along with extensive revisions to the Truth in Lending Act and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act rules and disclosures. In its July 9 notice, the CFPB requested comment on, among other things, proposed changes to Regulation Z (TILA) to implement amendments...

Leonard Chanin, assistant director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Office of Regulations, where he is essentially the CFPB's chief rule writer, is leaving the bureau to return to private practice with the law firm of Morrison & Foerster, where he once practiced for many years. It's a big loss for the bureau, which prides itself on attracting many qualified and passionate individuals who want to make a difference by opting for a career in public service. Alan Kaplinsky, the practice leader of the...

The blowback over yield-spread premiums and subprime mortgages continued in Lee v. Countrywide Home Loans, Inc., in which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has determined that a lender – in this case, Countrywide Home Loans, and by extension, parent Bank of America – may be liable under state common law claims of civil conspiracy for failing to disclose fees paid to a mortgage broker. This subprime mortgage case was brought by the borrowers (the Lees) against the lender (Countrywide), its parent company (Bank of...

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has asked the Office of Management and Budget for a generic clearance to collect information on compliance costs and the other effects of regulations – something the American Bankers Association and the Consumer Bankers Association said they oppose. Back in June, the CFPB published a notice in the Federal Register about its plans “to collect qualitative information from industry participants regarding the compliance costs and other effects on providers and consumers...

The Multi-State Mortgage Committee of the Conference of State Bank Supervisors and the American Association of Residential Mortgage Regulators released its 2011 annual report and 2012/2013 outlook.Among its 2011 accomplishments, the MMC implemented its Limited Scope Electronic examination process to increase examination efficiencies, participated in the state-federal mortgage servicer settlement, and submitted a white paper to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on the differences between the Real Estate...