Upon last week’s news of CFPB Director Richard Cordray’s resignation, a number of industry representatives urged Congress and the White House to enact legislation to convert the leadership structure of the bureau to that of a multi-member, bipartisan board or commission. Rob Nichols, president and CEO of the American Bankers Association, said, “While we haven’t always agreed with Director Corday on issues, we have always shared his goal of wanting to help consumers and appreciated his willingness to engage with us. “Consumers are our customers, and nothing is more important to America’s banks than maintaining their trust and confidence,” he added. “We will continue to work with the CFPB under its new leadership to ensure consumers have access to the ...

It’s unlikely the mortgage lending and servicing industry will see any big changes at the CFPB right away – at least in terms of new regulations and rule-makings – once Richard Cordray formally exits the stage as director of the bureau, most experts said. “Until the president installs a new director, it should be business as usual,” former CFPB official Benjamin Olson, now a partner with Buckley Sandler in Washington, DC, told Inside the CFPB. As excited as some mortgage industry representatives were upon hearing the news, all of the bureau’s rulemakings related to mortgage lending and servicing have already been issued and finalized, so that’s all water under the bridge. A new director will not be able to willy-nilly revoke or ...

Major news outlets have reported that President Trump intends to choose current Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney as acting director of the CFPB upon Richard Cordray’s departure as chief of the consumer bureau. Attorneys with the Buckley Sandler law firm in Washington, DC, said in an online blog post that Mulvaney, a former Republican member of the House from South Carolina, would keep his current position and serve as both the director of OMB and acting director until the president nominates and the Senate confirms a permanent replacement for Cordray. Mulvaney, a long-time critic of the bureau, would be able to step into the acting director position since he has already passed muster with the Senate. As ...

The CFPB recently told a U.S. District Court it opposes Ocwen Financial’s motion to submit the Department of Justice’s brief filed in another case in lieu of the department’s inaction when it comes to weighing in on Ocwen’s dispute with the bureau. Ocwen recently asked the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida, West Palm Beach Division, for permission to file a supplemental memorandum (an earlier brief by the DOJ in PHH Corp. v. CFPB as to the unconstitutionality of the bureau) in defense of the company’s motion to dismiss the consumer regulator’s case against it. The common thread in both cases is that Ocwen and PHH similarly assert that the CFPB’s structure is unconstitutional. During the Obama administration, the ...

Trade groups representing mortgage lenders and servicers generally support the change the bureau is making to its 2013 mortgage servicing rules under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (Regulation X) and the Truth in Lending Act (Regulation Z) as it relates to certain early-intervention notices. In mid-October, the CFPB issued an interim final rule amending the timing requirements for providing subsequent written early-intervention notices to borrowers who have requested a cease in communication under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. The CFPB’s 2016 amendments to the 2013 mortgage servicing rules generally require that servicers send notices to delinquent borrowers every 45 days to inform them of available foreclosure prevention options. For borrowers who have invoked their cease-communication requirements, servicers must ...

Back in October, the CFPB issued a proposed rule to clarify the timing for mortgage servicers to transition to providing modified or unmodified periodic statements and coupon books in connection with a consumer’s bankruptcy case. Since its 2016 mortgage servicing rule was adopted, the bureau said it has received significant input that certain aspects of the single-billing-cycle exemption and timing requirements may be more complex and operationally challenging than it realized, and that the relevant provisions may be subject to different interpretations. Therefore, the CFPB proposed several revisions to replace the single-billing-cycle exemption with a single-statement exemption. More specifically, the bureau proposed to revise the single-billing-cycle exemption to instead provide a single-statement exemption for the next periodic statement or coupon ...

Last week, the House Financial Services Committee approved several bills that would override the CFPB on some of its key mortgage-related rulemakings. The voting included the passage of H.R. 1153, the Mortgage Choice Act of 2017, which would exclude from the ability-to-repay calculation of points and fees insurance and taxes held in escrow and fees paid to affiliated companies as a result of their participation in an affiliated business arrangement. The bill passed by a recorded vote of 46 ayes and 13 nays. Jaret Seiberg, an analyst with Cowen Washington Research Group, said in a client note, “This would permit lenders to work with affiliate title insurers without worrying about the points-and-fees cap.” Another measure that survived the legislative gauntlet ...

Last week, the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs committee endorsed a handful of legislative provisions related to mortgage financing, including a measure that tackles one aspect of the CFPB’s integrated-disclosure rule under the Truth in Lending Act and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act.One section of the still-to-be-named bill would remove the three-day waiting period required for the combined TILA/RESPA mortgage disclosure if a creditor extends to a consumer a second offer of credit with a lower annual percentage rate. It also would express the sense of Congress that the CFPB should provide clearer, authoritative guidance with respect to certain issues. A separate section deals with escrow requirements for certain consumer credit transactions. These provisions would provide an ...

On a scale of one to five, the CFPB’s overall information security program is operating at a level-three (consistently implemented) maturity, with the agency performing several activities indicative of a higher maturity level, according to a recent report from the bureau’s Office of Inspector General. “For instance, the CFPB’s information security continuous monitoring process is effective and operating at level four, with the agency tracking and reporting on performance measures related to supporting activities,” the OIG said. “In addition, the CFPB employs network access controls to detect unauthorized hardware and has implemented automated patch management tools.” These areas are typically associated with a level-four maturity. The CFPB also could mature its information security program to make sure that it is ...

More Industry Advice for a Post-Cordray CFPB. Competitive Enterprise Institute financial policy expert John Berlau said last week, “Richard Cordray’s impending resignation as director of the CFPB is long overdue.... Growth of CFPB Leveling Off. The total number of employees at the CFPB came to 1,668 for fiscal year 2017, up 20 positions from the year before, according to the bureau’s latest financial statements for the last two years.... GAO Signs Off on CFPB Financial Statements. The Government Accountability Office audited the CFPB’s financial statements for fiscal years 2016 and 2017, and found they are “presented fairly, in all material respects, in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.”...