Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell filed a motion last week to advance bipartisan legislation that would relieve banks, especially smaller ones, from a handful of CFPB regulations. The Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, or S. 2155, was passed by the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee in December 2017. The vote on the motion to proceed will be on Tuesday, March 6. The act, introduced by Sen. Mike Crapo, R-ID, would roll back a number of ...

The fight between Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-MA, and the CFPB’s Acting Director Mick Mulvaney regarding the payday lending rule is escalating. In a two-paragraph response released last week, Mulvaney rejected the accusation that his decision to retreat from payday lending was connected to the campaign contributions that payday lenders gave. “I rejected your insinuation – repeated three times in as many pages – that my actions as acting director are based on considerations other than than a careful examination ...

The CFPB is continuing its investigation into what went wrong at Equifax regarding the massive data breach the credit bureau suffered last year, according to a new 10-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Last fall, Equifax said hackers stole personal data it had collected on some 143 million U.S. consumers. In the new filing, the company updated that estimate to almost 146 million Americans. The CFPB, of course, is not the only government body looking into the hack ... [Includes two briefs]

GSE shareholders lost their latest battle against the government’s preferred stock purchase agreement as the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear their case last week. After a lower court ruled against claims arguing the validity of the Treasury sweep of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac profits, investors hoped to plead their case to the high court. Plaintiffs, including Fairholme Funds, Perry Capital and other shareholders, filed a writ of certiorari last year asking the Supreme Court to intervene in their cases. Both Perry and Fairholme have large holdings of the GSEs’ preferred shares. Back in 2014, a judge for the District of Columbia U.S. District Court dismissed claims brought against the government saying that the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 gives...

FHA is offering new options to victims of hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria as well as California wildfires and subsequent flooding and mudslides to avoid foreclosures. Eligible disaster victims in Texas, Louisiana, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, California, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands may get FHA foreclosure relief, which would allow them to remain in their homes and, at the same time, reduce losses to the mortgage insurance fund. FHA has instructed servicers to reach out to the victims with the new option, “Disaster Standalone Partial Claim.” The new option allows an interest-free second loan to cover up to 12 months of missed mortgage payments. The loan is payable only when the borrower sells the home or refinances the mortgage. The expanded loss mitigation will also streamline income documentation and other requirements to expedite relief to struggling homeowners while they are ...

Plans at Wells Fargo to issue non-agency mortgage-backed securities in 2017 didn’t come to fruition. But growth limitations recently placed on the bank by the Federal Reserve have prompted speculation that Wells could issue non-agency MBS this year. This month, the Fed issued a cease and desist order that temporarily limits the firm’s maximum total consolidated assets to the level they were as of the end of 2017. The order was one of the last acts of former Fed Chair Janet Yellen, who ...

The Trump administration has released a proposed fiscal year 2019 budget that envisions big changes for the CFPB. According to budget documents, the White House is proposing to restructure the bureau, limit its mandatory funding in 2019, and provide discretionary, congressional appropriations to fund the agency beginning in 2020. Many of the proposed changes would require revisions to the bureau’s charter by Congress that would likely face a difficult path to enactment ...

The House of Representatives last week voted 271-145 to approve targeted legislation to address the disclosure of certain charges in the Truth in Lending Act/Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act integrated disclosure, or TRID. H.R. 3978, the TRID Improvement Act of 2017, would require the CFPB to allow for the calculation of discounted title insurance rates that companies may offer to consumers for policies that cover both the lender and the homeowner. The bill was introduced ...

The House of Representatives has passed H.R. 1153, “The Mortgage Choice Act,” legislation that would make two adjustments to the Truth in Lending Act definition of points and fees regarding title fees charged by affiliates of the lender. The bill aims to make more loans eligible for qualified-mortgage status by excluding points and fees paid for affiliated title charges and escrow charges for insurance and taxes. House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling, R-TX, explained ...

The ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit that the CFPB wrongly interpreted the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act will have a huge impact on the mortgage market and the regulatory landscape, industry attorneys said. In a closely-watched case involving PHH Mortgage and its captive mortgage reinsurance unit, the court upheld the notion that the plain language of RESPA permits a bona fide payment by one settlement service provider to another if ...