Lenders of all stripes continue to push for changes to rules established by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. There are divisions among trade groups about which lenders deserve special treatment regarding qualified mortgages and portfolio lending, among other issues. This week, the Community Mortgage Lenders of America proposed that lenders should receive regulatory relief if they are small, largely focus on qualified mortgages and avoid regulatory ...

A recent $36 million settlement agreement between Golden First Mortgage Corp. and the federal government is raising questions about the lender’s ability to pay. The Department of Justice apparently has a plan to collect from a company that is no longer in business and hardly generated enough revenue to pay the full settlement amount. Whatever that plan is, the agency is not disclosing it. Based in upstate New York, Golden First agreed to pay up to resolve allegations that it ...

The reverse mortgage lending industry is asking the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to clarify that reverse mortgages are excluded from proposed changes to mortgage servicing rules relating to “successors in interest.” In a comment letter, the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association warned that requiring lenders to determine which parties meet a new regulatory definition of “successor in interest” could expose lenders to numerous, costly risks. The requirement would ...

Last week, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau brought an enforcement action against RMK Financial Corp., an FHA/VA lender based in Rancho Cucamonga, CA, for allegedly using deceptive mortgage advertising practices, including the use of ads that led consumers to believe that the company was affiliated with the U.S. government. The bureau alleged that RMK, also known as Majestic Home Loans, used the names and logos of the Department of Veterans Affairs and ...

New Day USA, a major VA lender, agreed to a multi-million dollar settlement this week with state regulators and removed its chief operating officer due to widespread violations involving the Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act. The lender will pay a $5.28 million administrative penalty as part of a consent order and settlement with regulators from 42 states and Washington, DC. New Day also removed COO Paul Alger. In order to meet continuing education requirements ...

Certain factions of the industry want the CFPB to develop a plan to provide implementation support during a restrained enforcement period following the Aug. 1 effective date.

Is the bloom off the rose in the single-family home rental market? Some institutional investors are shedding assets.

The House of Representatives early this week passed H.R. 685, the “Mortgage Choice Act,” bipartisan legislation which would clarify that certain affiliated title costs do not count against the “qualified mortgage” cap on points and fees under the ability-to-repay rule. H.R. 685, introduced by Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-MI, with 37 co-sponsors from both parties, excludes from the definition of points and fees all title charges, regardless of whether they are charged by ...

Small nonbank mortgage lender groups and other industry representatives once again took the opportunity provided by sympathetic Republicans in Congress to express their anxiety about being able to comply with the pending integrated disclosure rule from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau when it kicks in Aug. 1, 2015. They echoed a call made late last month by Reps. Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-MO, and Randy Neugebauer, R-TX, for the CFPB to institute a ...

Hours before the House vote, word came from the White House that President Obama would veto the measure.