Appraisal bias remains a primary concern…

The revised integrated mortgage disclosure rule takes effect this month, and compliance experts said the industry is ready despite some remaining uncertainty. The CFPB last year finalized amendments to its Truth in Lending Act/Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act Integrated Disclosure rule. The revised rule, dubbed TRID 2.0 by the industry, became effective in October 2017, but the agency set Oct. 1, 2018, as the mandatory compliance date ...

The uncertainty about liability and cure mechanisms under the TRID 2.0 disclosure regime could have a negative impact on the secondary market, said compliance experts. Industry groups had sought clarification of liabilities for specific TRID violations, as well as additional cure provisions and bona fide error defenses, during the comment period for proposed amendments to the Truth in Lending Act/Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act Integrated ...

Acting CFPB Director Mick Mulvaney recently said the agency is still providing fair lending oversight, contrary to reports in the media. Meanwhile, a new controversy has erupted over the political appointee named to lead the agency’s fair lending operations. “We are still very much in the fair lending business and we are going to remain active in that space,” said Mulvaney in a fair lending symposium held by the CFPB. Consumer advocates have been concerned ...

Mortgage trade groups are asking the CFPB to reopen the loan originator compensation rule to reduce lenders’ regulatory burden and better serve consumers. A dozen industry trade groups – including the American Bankers Association, the Mortgage Bankers Association and the Real Estate Service Providers Council – recently wrote to Acting CFPB Director Mick Mulvaney with suggested changes to the agency’s LO compensation rule under the ...

The American Bankers Association said many questions about new Home Mortgage Disclosure Act reporting remain unanswered and proposed guidance from the CFPB won’t give lenders sufficient legal protection. The CFPB amended the HMDA rule in 2015, implementing expanded data collection fields specifically mandated by the Dodd-Frank Act along with some based on the bureau’s discretionary authority. The net result expanded the required ...

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-MA, has raised ethical questions about Acting CFPB Director Mick Mulvaney’s recent appearance at a “closed-door event” where he reportedly discussed midterm elections with Republican officials and donors. Warren, a harsh Mulvaney critic, said his attendance at the event in New York City on Sept. 8 may have violated the Hatch Act, which prohibits certain employees in the executive branch of the federal government from engaging ...

The CFPB’s recent efforts to create a regulatory sandbox for financial technology (fintech) companies would benefit the mortgage industry, said a former CFPB attorney. Ever since the agency hired Paul Watkins, a lawyer who helped establish the nation’s first regulatory sandbox for fintech companies, to lead its Office of Innovation in July, fintech regulation has become an area of focus at the bureau. The CFPB in August joined a global fintech regulatory initiative ...

The CFPB recently began putting more emphasis on protecting “credit-invisible” consumers and how financial innovation might expand access to credit. Credit-invisible consumers are those without an established credit history with the three national credit reporting agencies who therefore cannot be scored by most traditional credit scoring models. The first CFPB advisory committees meeting this year – held after all the chaos of disbanding and reconstitution ...