The CFPB has issued an amendment to its guidance on service providers, clarifying that mortgage lenders have a degree of flexibility in deciding the appropriate course of action for managing their risk. In its revised bulletin, the bureau began by noting that it “recognizes that the use of service providers is often an appropriate business decision for supervised banks and nonbanks. “Supervised banks and nonbanks may outsource certain functions to service providers due to resource constraints, use service providers to develop and market additional products or services, or rely on expertise from service providers that would not otherwise be available without significant investment,” it added. However, the mere fact that a supervised bank or nonbank enters into a business relationship ...

The CFPB’s latest supervisory highlights report provides some Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data collection and reporting reminders for 2017. For starters, beginning with HMDA data collected in 2017 and submitted in 2018, responsibility to receive and process HMDA data will transfer from the Federal Reserve Board to the CFPB. “The HMDA agencies have agreed that a covered institution filing HMDA data collected in or after 2017 with the CFPB will be deemed to have submitted the HMDA data to the appropriate federal agency,” the bureau stated. (The HMDA agencies are the CFPB, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the Fed, the National Credit Union Administration, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.) ...

The recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in the dispute between the CFPB and PHH Corp. has some significant enforcement implications for the bureau, according to a top compliance attorney. At stake in particular is the bureau’s authority to enforce federal consumer financial protection laws as well as the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) prohibition of unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices (UDAAP). In a recent client note, Barbara Mishkin, of counsel in the Philadelphia office of the Ballard Spahr law firm, noted that among the court’s findings was that the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act’s three-year statute of limitations (SOL) applies to the agency’s administrative enforcement actions. “Not only did ...

Technical Changes to Electronic Fund Transfers Final Rule Take Effect. Last month, the CFPB released a final rule with correcting amendments to its Electronic Fund Transfers (Regulation E) final rule.... CFPB to Hold Field Hearing This Week on Consumer Access to Financial Records. The CFPB plans to conduct a field hearing Thursday, Nov. 17, on the topic of consumer access to financial records....

Vendor Provides TRID-Oriented Video Content. Fast Forward Stories, a Bellingham, WA, provider of “brand-able” video content for the mortgage, title and real estate industries, recently released a download-ready library of 26 mortgage explainer videos on the CFPB’s Truth in Lending Act/Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act Integrated Disclosure Rule (TRID).... ICYMI: Here’s What Happens to Fines, Penalties Levied by the CFPB. A new report from the Government Accountability Office summarizes what happens to the fines and penalties the CFPB imposes on financial institutions for mortgage-related offenses, as follows ...

Social media and mobile-digital communications have already reshaped a number of industries, and mortgage banking isn’t going to be any different, according to a leading guru in the field. Many of today’s loan officers are going to become obsolete unless they adapt to rapidly shifting consumer expectations, said Clara Shih, CEO and founder of Hearsay Social, during a session at the recent annual convention of the Mortgage Bankers Association. Although there are some ...

As home prices have recovered and the end of the year nears, there is talk of whether the conforming loan limits will change for 2017. BlackKnight Financial Services said there is a need for an increase and examined how it could affect mortgage origination volumes. The $417,000 loan limit has remained unchanged for the most part since 2006. The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 established the baseline loan limit at $417,000, and stipulated that after a period of price declines, the baseline loan limit can’t rise again until home prices return to pre-decline levels. Last November, the Federal Housing Finance Agency determined that the maximum loan limits for the GSEs would remain at existing levels throughout...

Promoting alignment between Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the programs offered, versus competition, is a balancing act, according to Bob Ryan, Federal Housing Finance Agency acting deputy director, division of conservatorship. He spoke about the single security during a housing panel sponsored by the Urban Institute and Core Logic last week. Ryan said that it’s important to consider what the implications might be for investors when deciding whether to have the GSEs align or compete in their programs and activities. Freddie is on track to implement the single security in the fourth quarter of 2017, he said. That change will put Freddie’s existing securities on the new platform.

Fannie Mae and SoFi introduced a new loan option last week that lets homeowners take advantage of low rates and use the equity in their home to pay down college loans. Under the Student Loan Payoff ReFi, homeowners can refinance mortgages and cash out while paying down an existing loan balance. Fannie estimates that just 1.8 percent of the cash-out mortgages it finances today are being used to pay off student loans. With cash-out refinances growing, Deutsche Bank said it expects to see refinance activity and mortgage-backed security issuance tick up. The new product is driven by cutting guaranty fees that usually accompany Fannie cash-out mortgages. GSE officials said they received approval...