Federal regulators have yet to finalize their qualified residential mortgage rulemaking, but housing finance experts are already trying to figure out how lending is going to be affected by the interplay of the QRM rule and the qualified mortgage standard as per the CFPB’s ability-to-repay rule. As the new lending environment unfolds, the liability risks associated with non-QM and QRM loans is one of the things that is particularly troublesome to some. “The worse-case scenario that I worry about is that we see a repeat of what we saw in...

A number of industry trade groups told the CFPB and other financial regulators that they generally agreed with the regulators’ use of voluntary self-assessments in the interagency diversity standards proposed last fall. However, the American Bankers Association, the Consumer Bankers Association, the Financial Services Roundtable and the Independent Community Bankers of America offered some cautions on vendor diversity standards and confidentiality of reports. Although some commentators had called for incorporating diversity assessments...

The Federal Reserve Office of Inspector General will be initiating some sort of audit or evaluation of the reasons the renovation costs for the CFPB’s headquarters building in Washington, DC, have soared to more than three times their original estimate, Inside the CFPB has learned. The OIG responded to a request from Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-NC, a key subcommittee chairman within the House Financial Services Committee structure. “We have received a request from Chairman McHenry of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and...

HMDA Rulemaking on Consumer Advisory Board Agenda. The CFPB has scheduled a Consumer Advisory Board meeting for Feb. 26-27, at the Constitution Center (Auditorium), 400 7th Street SW, Washington, DC. The first day of the event is closed to the public. A close look at the agenda indicates an hour has been set aside for some discussion on a possible Home Mortgage Disclosure Act rulemaking. Speakers scheduled during that session include Mortgage Data Assets Team Lead Ren Essene and Senior Counsel Joan Kayagil. A session later in the day will be...

New Document Delivery Solution Aims to Boost Lenders’ Efforts to Meet CFPB Appraisal Delivery Requirements. Black Knight Financial Services of Jacksonville, FL, recently launched its Document Delivery Service to help lenders deliver CFPB-mandated appraisals to consumers. “The service enables lenders to securely and reliably deliver the documents in both electronic and paper formats, helping lenders comply with the bureau’s recent amendment to Regulation B, which implements the provisions of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act,” the company said...

A policy shift at the Securities and Exchange Commission requiring admission of guilt in certain cases may encourage wrongdoers in the securities market to litigate rather than settle, resulting in fewer SEC settlements, according to some compliance attorneys. Fear of possible criminal prosecution and the lasting impact of an admission of guilt could compel accused companies and individuals to take their cases to trial rather than negotiate a settlement, warned Philip Stein and Jeremy Sahn, partners in the Miami-based law firm of Bilzin Sumberg. Starting in June 2013, the SEC began requiring...

Losses incurred for rep-and-warrant claims tied to MBS could total $89 billion eventually. However, banks have already reserved $88 billion, according to some tallies.

The lawsuit seeks to recover unspecified damages and penalties from the defendants for using fraudulent mortgage assignments and FHA endorsements to submit tens of thousands of false FHA claims from 2000 through 2010.

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen stuck close to the script of her predecessor on the subject of the Fed’s “quantitative easing” exit strategy during her first Humphrey-Hawkins appearance before Congress this week, reaffirming that the central bank’s pull-back from its asset-purchase program is likely to continue, barring a dramatic surprise. “Let me emphasize that I expect a great deal of continuity in the Fed Open Market Committee’s approach to monetary policy,” Yellen told the House Financial Services Committee on Tuesday. “I served on the committee as we formulated our current policy strategy and I strongly support that strategy, which is designed to fulfill the Federal Reserve’s statutory mandate of maximum employment and price stability.” The new Fed chief reminded...

Rising interest rates may help boost the fortunes of real estate investment trusts that focus on investing in residential MBS by increasing the value of their portfolios. Mortgage REITs had a rough year in 2013, as their stock prices declined an average 10 percent while the Standard & Poor’s Index rose 29 percent. It was thought that “tapering” by the Federal Reserve would cause rates to rise – which they did for a short while – but now the reverse has happened, thanks in large part to recent weak employment numbers. Late this week, the yield on the 10-year Treasury was...