Federal regulators have offered few clues on what is next for proposed qualified residential mortgage regulations, and the uncertainty in the marketplace has been cited as an impediment to the resumption of non-agency securitization. “The agencies are carefully evaluating all of the comments received and are now actively engaged in considering the many issues raised as we determine how best to proceed with the risk-retention rulemaking,” Acting Comptroller of the Currency John Walsh said last week. The extended comment period on the proposed rule closed in August ...

The Treasury Department increased its threats against non-agency servicers regarding Home Affordable Modification Program performance. In a report released last week, the Treasury was highly critical of JPMorgan Chase and a number of other non-agency servicers remain on notice. Freddie Mac, acting as the Treasury’s compliance agent for the Making Home Affordable program, conducts quarterly assessments of HAMP servicers. In the third quarter of 2011, Chase was deemed to be in need of “substantial improvement” in compliance with MHA guidelines, the third quarter in a row for the servicer ...

In the world of federal budget magic, Democrats and Republicans are both looking at increases in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac guarantee fees as a way to offset the cost of extending payroll tax breaks due to expire at the end of 2011. Both parties so far are rejecting the other party’s proposed solution to keep the tax break, though both bills include nearly identical plans to start raising fees charged by the government-sponsored enterprises. The Senate Democrats’ Middle Class Tax Cut Act of 2011 would start raising GSE guarantee fees by 12.5 basis points per year. The GOP bill in the...

Two significant issues related to the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act have received fresh attention at the Supreme Court, which is expected to make landmark rulings next year. The U.S. Solicitor General and a group of state attorneys general filed briefs in Freeman v. Quicken Loans, a case in which the high court will likely determine the ability of the mortgage lending industry to decide what to charge borrowers at the point of origination. RESPA Section 8(b) provides that “no person shall give and no person shall accept any portion, split or percentage of...

Federal financial regulators are still sifting through stacks of criticism about their controversial risk-retention proposal for the MBS and ABS market and have not yet decided whether to start over again with a new proposed rule, as most industry groups have urged them to do. The agencies are also getting a lot of push from Capitol Hill to re-think the original proposal, which was released in late March. “I am very concerned that if the qualified residential mortgage definition being worked out by regulators isn’t broad enough, it could hurt the housing market, especially...

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency provided a status update on the efforts that 12 bank and thrift mortgage servicers are making to comply with the foreclosure practice consent orders they were issued in the spring, a review that documents the extent to which servicing reforms are being implemented.As such, the document may foretell some of the kinds of industry “best practices” that will form the basis of national servicing standards one day.For example, each servicer has established policies and procedures for providing single points of contact to assist borrowers throughout the loan modification and foreclosure processes.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.Federal Reserve Board.National Credit Union Administration.Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Big Institutions Under CFPB Oversight. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the Federal Reserve Board, the National Credit Union Administration and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency announced together that banks, thrifts and credit unions with more than $10 billion in total assets will be subject to direct CFPB supervision, examination and enforcement with respect to federal consumer financial protection laws.

The House Financial Services Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee plans a hearing on Tuesday, Dec. 6, on the examination relief bill (H.R. 3461) that panel Chairman Shelley Moore Capito, R-WV, and ranking member Carolyn Maloney, D-NY, introduced on Nov. 17. H.R. 3461, among other things, would require more timely examination reports; more information about the facts the agency relied upon to make its exam decisions; and more precise, consistent and understandable classification standards…

It would be better for the mortgage market, for taxpayers and for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac if Congress did not dawdle in promulgating housing finance reform and clarified the future role, if any, the two government-sponsored enterprises will have, the CEOs of Fannie and Freddie told lawmakers this week. Testifying before the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, Fannie CEO Michael Williams and Freddie CEO Charles Haldeman called on Congress to take action as the continued lack of clarity about Fannie and Freddie’s future is harmful to...

Commercial banks will have to do more than just look at the credit rating on a security before deciding it qualifies as a potential investment under a proposed rule issued by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency this week. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is scheduled to consider a similar proposal next week. Under marching orders from the Dodd-Frank Act, bank regulators have been removing references to external credit ratings from a variety of regulations – even though banks themselves don’t agree with the change. Most commenters on earlier proposals from...