After a difficult year so far, sales of mortgage servicing rights are beginning to pick up a head of steam this fall with the hope that the fourth quarter could turn out be a barn-burner. According to interviews conducted by Inside Mortgage Finance this week, servicing advisors for the most part are feeling mildly optimistic about the final three months of the year, although they all admit the obvious: an unexpected drop in rates could spoil the party. But that may not...

Hundreds of industry participants have written to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to express their opposition to or support of the bureau’s attempt to resolve some of the ambiguity associated with its Truth in Lending Act/Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act Integrated Disclosure Rule. Title insurers say the CFPB missed a chance to fix a major problem: confusion about title premium charges. Real estate agents say the bureau is making things better for consumers by allowing lenders to share disclosures. One title insurance professional noted...

Hundreds of title agents across the U.S. responded in an organized letter-writing campaign and flooded the CFPB’s inbox with negative comments about the bureau’s attempt to clarify a number of issues related to its controversial TILA/RESPA Integrated Disclosure Rule, otherwise known as TRID.One title insurance professional commented that the CFPB missed an opportunity to change the closing disclosure’s calculation of title fees. “Consumers around the country continue to receive inaccurate information at the closing table about their title insurance costs,” she said. “This provision of the rule defeats the bureau’s own mission to provide consumers with a better understanding of their transaction.” The title agent urged the CFPB to fix this problem immediately so consumers will have a clear ...

Scores of real estate professionals have written to the CFPB to express their support of the TRID 2.0 provision that would enable the sharing of mortgage origination documents between lenders and real estate professionals. Carol Barkstrom, principal broker/owner at Connections Realty in Richmond, VA, told the CFPB, “Thank God you are proposing to make this change. We as agents being denied access to closing documents has been a huge problem.” Previously, real estate professionals “have always had access to disclosure documents to catch possible mistakes and omissions and to explain the meaning of all the pieces and parts of the closing documents to our selling and buying clients,” she added. However, with the original TRID rule, the bureau’s attempt to ...

The TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure rule helped improve communications with no impact on closing times, according to some real estate agents. But other agents reported that the new disclosure rule caused significant delays in closing purchase mortgages. The disparity in findings is contained in the newest Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey, which asked real estate agents to describe their best/worst experience with lenders this year. TRID, as might be expected, received a number of mentions. An agent in California said lenders have been much better at communication since TRID took effect in October. “I feel that TRID keeps them more aware of the timelines they need to adhere to,” the agent said. And a sales professional in Maryland said homebuyers’ ...

The new nonprime mortgage-backed securities deals from Angel Oak Capital Advisors and Deephaven Mortgage contain a number of mortgages reflecting a range of issues in terms of complying with the CFPB’s TILA/RESPA Integrated Disclosure rule (TRID), a review of the offering documents revealed. Part of the compliance issues stem from the ongoing uncertainty about cures for minor errors. While the CFPB issued a proposed rule in July attempting to clarify some of these TRID uncertainties, and the Structured Finance Industry Group has worked with industry participants on a set of guidelines, it is still not clear whether some TRID errors can be cured. The $132.65 million nonprime MBS from Angel Oak included 251 mortgages subject to TRID, representing 59.4 percent ...

The presidential campaign of Democrat Hillary Clinton issued a fact sheet indicating that the candidate supports allowing small institutions to enjoy the qualified mortgage safe harbor for portfolio loans. “Before the crisis, Wall Street promoted dangerous mortgage products, even when they knew borrowers might get into trouble, harming countless communities in the process,” said the fact sheet. “But when community banks and credit unions offer mortgages, they’re looking to invest in their neighborhoods and communities to help them grow and prosper. “Clinton supports a proposal put forward by Senate Democrats to expand the safe harbor for QM liability protection to include all mortgages made by community banks and credit unions with under $10 billion in assets – so long as the ...

The CFPB recently brought a $32.25 million enforcement action against First National Bank of Omaha, alleging deceptive marketing and illegal billing of add-on credit card products that it claimed harmed hundreds of thousands of borrowers. According to the CFPB, from 2002 until at least 2012, First National Bank of Omaha offered add-on debt cancellation products with its credit card, including products dubbed “Secure Credit” and “Payment Protection.” The bureau said the bank promoted these products as providing a monthly payment to the cardholder’s account in the event of certain hardships, such as involuntary unemployment, hospitalization or disability. Cardholders were charged a monthly fee for the products. First National Bank of Omaha also offered credit monitoring products, including “Privacy Guard” and ...

The CFPB recently brought a $4 million enforcement action against Wells Fargo, alleging the bank engaged in illegal private student loan servicing practices that increased costs and unfairly penalized certain student loan borrowers. “Wells Fargo hit borrowers with illegal fees and deprived others of critical information needed to effectively manage their student loan accounts,” said CFPB Director Richard Cordray. The bureau said it identified breakdowns throughout Wells Fargo’s servicing process, such as failing to provide important payment information to consumers, charging consumers illegal fees, and failing to update inaccurate credit report information. One of the CFPB’s charges against the company was that it processed payments in a way that maximized fees for many consumers. “Specifically, if a borrower made a ...

Over the past week, two nonprime MBS deals came to light: a $138.89 million bond issued by Deephaven Residential Mortgage Trust and a $119.38 million security from Angel Oak Real Estate Investment Trust. Both deals were private placements backed by newly originated mortgages and underwritten by Wall Street veterans Credit Suisse and Nomura Securities. Although both were publicized this week, the transactions – which were not rated – closed...