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...

U.S. Congress. Lawmakers Return Next Week. The U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives are slated to convene at 2 p.m. Monday, Sept. 10. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. New Senior Counsel Comes on Board. Chris Lipsett is joining the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as senior counsel in the office of the director. Lipsett was previously a partner in the law firm of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, where his practice focused on regulatory, compliance, counseling, litigation, and transactional matters...

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...

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 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...

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...

M&T Bank announced this week that it will acquire Hudson City Bancorp for $3.7 billion. The jumbo lender will merge into a subsidiary of M&T. Hudson City was the 10th-ranked non-agency jumbo lender in 2011, according to Inside Nonconforming Markets, with an estimated $3.15 billion in such originations. Officials at M&T said they acquired Hudson – which was having difficulties funding its jumbo originations – to expand M&T’s retail branch network. Officials at Hudson City said M&T will help expand ... [Includes five briefs]

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s recent proposed rule regarding loan originator compensation would expand and clarify anti-steering rules established by the Federal Reserve, in effect since April 2011. “Compensation structures frequently gave loan originators incentives to steer consumers into loans with higher rates or other unfavorable terms,” according to the CFPB. The regulator’s proposed rule cited a consent order issued by the Fed in 2011 regarding subprime steering by Wells Fargo ...

The Securities and Exchange Commission is conducting an in-depth investigation of non-agency mortgage-backed securities issued by Ally Financial’s Residential Capital, according to court documents released this week. The documents revealed that due diligence provider R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company has delayed the investigation, which started in February. “The commission is investigating ResCap’s origination and underwriting practices used to make and approve loans in connection with offerings of ...