Many mortgage industry attorneys seem convinced that PHH Corp. will succeed – at least at the appellate court level – in defying the CFPB in its ongoing legal dispute with the bureau. The crux of the dispute is the bureau’s assertion that PHH violated the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act and harmed consumers through a mortgage insurance kickback scheme tied to a captive MI. Last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia heard oral arguments in the case, PHH Corp. v CFPB, and the day did not go well for the bureau. Former CFPB enforcement attorney Jennifer Lee, now a partner with the Dorsey & Whitney law firm in Washington, DC, succinctly summarized the tough day the bureau ...

Two rating services published reports in recent days stressing that non-agency MBS with loans subject to TRID mortgage disclosures can be rated, even when the loans have TRID violations. The reports are part of an industry effort to deal with the rule that combines disclosure requirements of the Truth in Lending Act and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act that was promulgated by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and took effect in October. Kroll Bond Rating Agency and Morningstar Credit Ratings published separate reports in the past week stating expectations that TRID will have a “limited” impact on non-agency MBS investors. A number of other rating services have made similar statements since TRID took effect, though that has done little to spur issuance. Only one non-agency MBS with TRID loans has been issued...

With Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac doing only surface checks for TRID regulatory compliance and not complete reviews, future credit-risk transfer deals from the two government-sponsored enterprises could be at risk from lender compliance violations, according to Moody’s Investors Service. Numerous challenges have arisen in the non-agency secondary market because of concerns about liability for errors in the new mortgage disclosures. But since TRID became effective on Oct. 3, 2015, Fannie and Freddie are only checking to make sure that the correct forms are being used. This lack of diligence for TRID violations may amount...

Overall net losses in subprime auto ABS are on the rise due to an increasing number of deals from smaller lenders that cater to borrowers with weak credit. Amid this trend, however, subprime auto ABS performance varies by lender, according to a new report from Moody’s Investors Service. Moody’s analysts said competition among auto lenders has tightened as new, mostly smaller, lenders – driven by low losses on post-crisis auto loans and low interest rates – enter the market and compete for borrowers. The crowded market has driven...

Republican and Democrat members of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee were at odds during a hearing this week over whether there is much of a liquidity problem in the fixed-income markets today, and if so, to what extent the Dodd-Frank Act or Federal Reserve monetary policy may be responsible. Federal regulators, on the other hand, told the lawmakers that markets are functioning well enough and still evolving in a new, post-crisis environment. They suggested the thing to worry about is how much liquidity there will be in five or 10 years and how it will function. Sen. Dean Heller, R-NV, asked...

Over the past two years, PHH Corp. has lost $64 million on its mortgage business and now that Merrill Lynch has given notice that it wants to end some of its private-label contracts with PHH Mortgage, the nonbank’s future is beginning to look cloudier. Moreover, analysts and investors who follow the company wonder whether PHH’s private-label model – the bread and butter of its origination business – is fixable in the modern era of mortgage banking. Meanwhile, all of this is happening at a time when management hopes to sell the company, or at least field offers for some of its key assets, including a $226 billion servicing portfolio. The bad news for PHH started...

The mortgage industry found some justification to hope for a return to a more traditional interpretation of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, after the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau took some judicial fire during oral arguments early this week in its dispute with PHH Corp. over the company’s captive mortgage reinsurance activity. The crux of the dispute is the bureau’s assertion that PHH violated RESPA and harmed consumers through a mortgage insurance kickback scheme tied to a captive MI company. Virtually all the major mortgage lenders used similar captive reinsurance entities prior to the financial collapse. In the run-up to this week’s oral arguments before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, the justices seemed...

Mortgage originators, securitizers and investors are no closer to getting any additional formal guidance from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau when it comes to industry compliance with the agency’s controversial integrated disclosure rule. The rule, which took effect Oct. 3, 2015, combines the consumer disclosures required under the Truth in Lending Act and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act. During a hearing late last week before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, CFPB Director Richard Cordray and Sen. Bob Corker, R-TN, briefly referenced...

Over the past year, The Blackstone Group has been aggressively expanding into many facets of the mortgage business and is now ready to make what might be considered a bold move: investing and originating in residential loans that don’t meet the qualified-mortgage test. But just how big might Blackstone get? That’s hard to say at this point. A source inside the company, who spoke under the condition his name not be used, confirmed...

As the non-conforming secondary market continues to grapple with headaches surrounding TRID errors and scotched jumbo deals, another storm may be brewing: whether Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are buying loans that – if tested properly for violations – would reveal flaws. The good news for the lending industry is that the government-sponsored enterprises are not now conducting routine post-purchase file reviews for technical compliance for TRID errors. The GSEs now are just checking to make sure the new consumer disclosures, which merge the requirements of the Truth in Lending Act and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, are being used. Still, that has not prevented...