Federal regulators are deeply divided on the amount of fines and the scope of procedural changes that should be imposed against major mortgage servicers to settle state and federal claims of fraud and other improprieties in the home foreclosure process. While no settlement agreement has been reached...

House Republicans have voted, among other things, to slash initial funding for the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection by nearly 60 percent in an effort to curb the new agency’s oversight powers over banks and nonbanks. By a vote of 235 to 180, the House passed a new continuing resolution (H.R. 1), the Full Year Continuing Appropriations Act, which would limit...

The compensation formula that will most likely be used by mortgage loan originators to comply with the Federal Reserve’s final rule is a percentage of the loan-funded balance with a minimum floor, according to the California Association of Mortgage Professionals. In an analysis of the rule, the CAMP said MLOs will most likely choose...

The Federal Reserve Board has issued a final rule and sought comment on a proposed rule to revise escrow requirements for first-lien jumbo mortgage loans and first-lien, higher-priced mortgages, respectively. The changes to Regulation Z, which implements...

The Department of Justice and state attorneys general are watching the mortgage servicing arena closely for signs of unfair or discriminatory business practices, and whether minority borrowers are receiving loan modifications on par with similarly situated non-minority borrowers. While fair lending on the loan origination side remains...

The House Financial Services Committee intends to conduct a hearing to examine the impact of the Federal Reserve’s recent regulation governing compensation to mortgage loan originators. In its oversight plan for the 112th Congress, the HFSC expressed concern that the Fed’s LO pay rules, which take effect April 1, may have an adverse impact on...

The Small Business Administration has joined other stakeholders in asking the Federal Reserve Board to postpone the April 1 implementation date of its final rule on mortgage loan originator compensation. In a recent letter, the SBA’s Office of Advocacy said the compliance guidance for small businesses it had requested...

Most mortgage industry groups have expressed support for a proposal by the Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to require non-bank residential mortgage lenders and loan originators to establish anti-money laundering (AML) plans and report suspicious financial transactions. The groups, which represent...

House Republicans are vowing to place financial regulators under tight scrutiny to ensure that the objectives of the new finance reform bill are being met without harmful, unintended consequences. The House Financial Services Committee placed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act under a stringent oversight plan that takes...

The Department of the Treasury is testing a new website for the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection through which the new agency can communicate and solicit opinions and recommendations from the public on any new rulemaking or initiative in the weeks and months ahead. The site will also be a valuable tool in recruiting...