The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s most recent settlement of non-agency mortgage-backed securities lawsuit has one consumer group seeing red as it claims taxpayers will ultimately get stuck with the cost of the bank’s multi-million dollar payout. Late last week, the FHFA announced a $550 million legal deal with HSBC North American Holdings, leaving just two civil cases tied to nonprime MBS issuance still unresolved.

There is little enthusiasm in the mortgage market for higher guaranty fees charged by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, various industry groups indicated in input letters to the GSEs’ regulator. In June, the Federal Housing Finance Agency issued a call for public comment on how the GSEs should calculate g-fees and whether the FHFA should proceed with a 10 basis point g-fee hike announced last year. In one of his first acts as FHFA director in January, Mel Watt postponed the g-fee hike pending further study.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s proposed capital requirements for private mortgage insurers would raise costs for borrowers but there is a need for new standards, according to industry group comments. The Mortgage Bankers Association, National Association of Realtors and several private MI companies have urged the Federal Housing Finance Agency to ease proposed capital requirements for private MIs.

Experts Laud FHFA’s Plan for ‘Single Security,’ But Urge Quicker Arrival at Goal. The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s “single security” proposal for a generic Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac MBS is “well-thought out” and “worthy of serious consideration,” but the agency should pick up the pace in its implementation to avoid making the solution part of the problem, according to a paper from the Urban Institute. Lewis Ranieri, chairman of Ranieri Partners, and Laurie Goodman, director of the UI’s Housing Policy Center, expressed concern that the FHFA “may be contemplating a slower pace in the project than it warrants.”

The MBA argued that the DOL didn’t follow rulemaking procedures in 2010 when the regulator withdrew guidance stating that loan officers could be exempt from overtime compensation requirements...

On its stated-income product, Homewood requires a minimum of three months of bank statements for both business and personal assets.

Among the many challenges associated with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s pending integrated disclosure rule is expanded legal liability for lenders based on the more threatening Truth in Lending Act, as opposed to the more palatable liability framework of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act. During a webinar sponsored last week by Inside Mortgage Finance, Rich Horn, a partner with the Dentons law firm and one of the architects of the rule while a regulator at the CFPB, noted there is no private right of action for integrated disclosures under RESPA. On the other hand, with TILA liability, “there is...

An Illinois district court’s decision that federal preemption issues are not ripe may now prompt a federal district court in Washington, DC, to examine the broader issue of whether disparate impact is a valid claim under the Fair Housing Act. The Illinois lawsuit, Property Casualty Insurers Association of America v. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, is one of two insurance-industry legal challenges to HUD’s disparate-impact rule. The second case was filed by two other trade groups, the American Insurance Association and the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies, and is pending in federal court in the nation’s capital. According to the final rule that HUD adopted in February 2013, a practice has...

The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear cases in its coming term regarding guidance issued by the Department of Labor involving overtime pay for loan officers. Oral arguments are scheduled for Dec. 1, and a decision is expected by June. The cases are Perez v. Mortgage Bankers Association and Nickols v. Mortgage Bankers Association. The MBA has argued that the DOL didn’t follow rulemaking procedures in 2010 when the regulator withdrew guidance stating that loan officers could be exempt from overtime compensation requirements under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Lenders have received...

According to the final rule that HUD adopted in February 2013, a practice has a discriminatory effect on a protected class if HUD or a private plaintiff can establish liability under the statute, even if there is no intent to discriminate.