The Department of Housing and Urban Development is weighing a number of options, including raising insurance premiums for the FHA Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund as political concerns grow that the program may need a taxpayer bailout. Testifying before the House Financial Services Committee last week, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan said he plans to include premium increases and other proposals in the department’s fiscal 2013 budget proposal to bring the FHA’s excess capital reserves back to the required level. Donovan said the FHA continues to evaluate policy options to...

The House Financial Services Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee plans a hearing on Tuesday, Dec. 6, on the examination relief bill (H.R. 3461) that panel Chairman Shelley Moore Capito, R-WV, and ranking member Carolyn Maloney, D-NY, introduced on Nov. 17. H.R. 3461, among other things, would require more timely examination reports; more information about the facts the agency relied upon to make its exam decisions; and more precise, consistent and understandable classification standards…

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.Federal Reserve Board.National Credit Union Administration.Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Big Institutions Under CFPB Oversight. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the Federal Reserve Board, the National Credit Union Administration and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency announced together that banks, thrifts and credit unions with more than $10 billion in total assets will be subject to direct CFPB supervision, examination and enforcement with respect to federal consumer financial protection laws.

Massachusetts. In Culhane v. Aurora Loan Services of Nebraska, the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts late last week granted the defendant’s motion for summary judgment, finding that Aurora, as holder of the plaintiff’s mortgage by assignment from Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems Inc., and as the servicer of the loan, could exercise the statutory power of sale and foreclose under Massachusetts laws. U.S. District Court Judge William G. Young held MERS may serve as the mortgagee as the lender’s nominee, MERS has the authority and right, and may assign mortgages in which it is named as the mortgagee, and such mortgages are valid and enforceable. Further, the judge concluded that, “The court holds that there was no flaw in this process. Under Massachusetts law, MERS lawfully held the legal title to Culhane’s mortgage in trust first for Preferred and subsequently for Deutsche.”

In an unpublicized move, industry sources indicate that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau told mortgage lending representatives in a Nov. 21 conference call that it has made several systems and process changes related to its mortgage consumer complaint system, in response to a joint comment letter the industry had submitted. Further, the CFPB is said to be already training participating financial institutions on the new system, which is expected to be fully operational any day now. Large banks (those with assets in excess of $10 billion) are to be covered by the system.

A Federal judge in California rejected a servicer’s motion to dismiss a putative class action that accused the servicer of wrongly rejecting a borrower's mortgage modification application and of improperly starting foreclosure proceedings.In Gaudin v. Saxon Mortgage Services Inc., the plaintiff argued that a trial modification plan provided to her by the lender represented a binding contract that required Saxon to evaluate the plaintiff under the Home Affordable Modification Program, and to provide a permanent loan mod, provided all conditions of the trial plan were satisfied.In requesting a dismissal, Saxon argued that the trial plan only required it to evaluate the borrower’s eligibility for a modification, and did not require Saxon to offer a modification.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau remains a hot topic on Capitol Hill, especially among Republican lawmakers who think it’s got far too much power and far too little accountability. House Financial Services Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Randy Neugebauer, R-TX, recently wrote to Treasury Special Advisor Raj Date, seeking a “detailed account of how the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has spent the funds that have been transferred to it by the Federal Reserve, and CFPB’s plans for those funds that have been transferred but not yet spent.”

The Obama administration began the week with a media blitz to drum up support for the presidentfs embattled nominee to head up the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Richard Cordray, as a vote by the full Senate on his nomination could come on Thursday, Capitol Hill sources indicate.Sunday evening, the White House released a report warning of the dangers American consumers face in the financial marketplace without a director at the helm.gWithout a director, Americans will not be protected from falling prey to many of the harmful practices that contributed to the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression,h the report said. gEvery day that the CFPB goes without a director is another day that American families remain at risk.h

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency provided a status update on the efforts that 12 bank and thrift mortgage servicers are making to comply with the foreclosure practice consent orders they were issued in the spring, a review that documents the extent to which servicing reforms are being implemented.As such, the document may foretell some of the kinds of industry “best practices” that will form the basis of national servicing standards one day.For example, each servicer has established policies and procedures for providing single points of contact to assist borrowers throughout the loan modification and foreclosure processes.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is seeking public input on its plans to collect information about legal actions filed by state officials under authority granted in Section 1042(a) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. This section of the law grants state attorneys general and state regulators the authority to bring legal actions against financial institutions to enforce provisions of Title X of Dodd-Frank and its implementing regulations. Back in July, the CFPB put out an interim final rule laying out the notification procedures regarding state legal action taken. The interim final rule establishes that notice should be provided at least 10 days before the filing of an action, with certain exceptions, and sets forth a limited set of information which is to be provided with the notice.