Observers say the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has changed its approach in fighting against lending discrimination under a new fair lending chief who has recently drawn heavy criticism for his controversial comments. “In the recent past, [the CFPB is] probably more supervision-oriented than enforcement action-oriented,” said Marshall Bell, a partner at Buckley Sandler, who advises companies on fair lending enforcement actions by the CFPB. “There has been a greater ...

The revised integrated mortgage disclosure rule takes effect this month, and compliance experts said the industry is ready despite some remaining uncertainty. The CFPB last year finalized amendments to its Truth in Lending Act/Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act Integrated Disclosure rule. The revised rule, dubbed TRID 2.0 by the industry, became effective in October 2017, but the agency set Oct. 1, 2018, as the mandatory compliance date ...

The uncertainty about liability and cure mechanisms under the TRID 2.0 disclosure regime could have a negative impact on the secondary market, said compliance experts. Industry groups had sought clarification of liabilities for specific TRID violations, as well as additional cure provisions and bona fide error defenses, during the comment period for proposed amendments to the Truth in Lending Act/Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act Integrated ...

Acting CFPB Director Mick Mulvaney recently said the agency is still providing fair lending oversight, contrary to reports in the media. Meanwhile, a new controversy has erupted over the political appointee named to lead the agency’s fair lending operations. “We are still very much in the fair lending business and we are going to remain active in that space,” said Mulvaney in a fair lending symposium held by the CFPB. Consumer advocates have been concerned ...

Mortgage trade groups are asking the CFPB to reopen the loan originator compensation rule to reduce lenders’ regulatory burden and better serve consumers. A dozen industry trade groups – including the American Bankers Association, the Mortgage Bankers Association and the Real Estate Service Providers Council – recently wrote to Acting CFPB Director Mick Mulvaney with suggested changes to the agency’s LO compensation rule under the ...

The American Bankers Association said many questions about new Home Mortgage Disclosure Act reporting remain unanswered and proposed guidance from the CFPB won’t give lenders sufficient legal protection. The CFPB amended the HMDA rule in 2015, implementing expanded data collection fields specifically mandated by the Dodd-Frank Act along with some based on the bureau’s discretionary authority. The net result expanded the required ...

The CFPB’s recent efforts to create a regulatory sandbox for financial technology (fintech) companies would benefit the mortgage industry, said a former CFPB attorney. Ever since the agency hired Paul Watkins, a lawyer who helped establish the nation’s first regulatory sandbox for fintech companies, to lead its Office of Innovation in July, fintech regulation has become an area of focus at the bureau. The CFPB in August joined a global fintech regulatory initiative ...

The CFPB recently began putting more emphasis on protecting “credit-invisible” consumers and how financial innovation might expand access to credit. Credit-invisible consumers are those without an established credit history with the three national credit reporting agencies who therefore cannot be scored by most traditional credit scoring models. The first CFPB advisory committees meeting this year – held after all the chaos of disbanding and reconstitution ...

Changes made by the Dodd-Frank reform bill, along with other legislative proposals and government actions, would have mixed credit impact on ABS backed by student loans, said Moody’s Investors Service.