While legal attempts by city governments to force large banks to pay for the high cost of foreclosure have failed, efforts to resolve the problem in state legislatures appear to be making headway. The City of Miami suffered consecutive defeats in three of the four lawsuits it filed against major banks after a federal district court judge dismissed all three because of the city’s lack of standing to bring suit under the federal Fair Housing Act. U.S. District Court Judge William Dimitrouleas dismissed...
“In essence, defendant asserts that the court should merely take its word that the documents – some of which defendant itself has not reviewed – are privileged,” wrote Sweeney. “This suggestion runs contrary to law.”
The American Bankers Association said its members were not able to clearly identify instances where a DTI cure mechanism would be useful in the normal course of bank operations.
According to an Inside Mortgage Finance analysis of loan-level data on mortgage-backed securities from the GSEs, underwriting standards on mortgages have loosened only slightly over the past year.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau late last week said it will take a close look at mortgage brokers acting as mini-correspondents, particularly if they are just trying to get around disclosure requirements and limits on broker compensation. The CFPB is concerned that some mortgage brokers are claiming to be mini-correspondent lenders by establishing warehouse funding lines when they are still essentially just facilitating a transaction between a borrower and a lender. “While some brokers may be setting up such arrangements because they intend to grow into full correspondent lenders, the bureau is concerned...
Ocwen's consumer council will consider issues such as principal reduction loan modifications, reducing urban blight, helping minorities and improving language access to borrowers with limited English proficiency.