Originations of higher-priced mortgages increased significantly in 2016 compared with the previous year, according to an analysis by Inside Nonconforming Markets of data from the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act. The analysis excluded government-insured mortgages, multifamily loans and home-improvement loans. Some $28.61 billion of non-government-insured higher-priced mortgages were originated in 2016, up 28.9 percent from the previous year ... [Includes one data chart]

There are many unpredictable variables and economic factors outside the control of the Federal Reserve, which makes it hard to project the impact of winding down the U.S. central bank’s historic investment in agency MBS. But economic experts at Fannie Mae are cautiously expressed anticipating greater volatility, an inevitable financial shock and potential changes in the Fed’s strategy as markets evolve.

As the mortgage industry prepares for a substantially expanded Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data collection and reporting environment from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, compliance experts are getting a clearer sense of some of the biggest challenges lenders will face – most notably on the technology front as well as fair lending scrutiny.

Nearly two dozen mortgage industry groups wrote to members of the U.S. House of Representatives recently, urging them to support a bipartisan measure that would tweak the CFPB’s integrated disclosure rule to enable title insurers to disclose available discounts and accurate title insurance premiums to homebuyers. Currently, the bureau does not permit title insurance companies to disclose available discounts for lender’s title insurance on the government mandated disclosure forms. “This creates inconsistencies in mortgage documents and causes confusion for consumers,” said the industry organizations...H.R. 3978, the TRID Improvement Act of 2017, introduced last month by Reps. French Hill, R-AK, and Ruben Kihuen, D-NV, would end this confusion by amending the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act to require the CFPB ...

Multiple industry trade groups recently wrote to every member of the U.S. House of Representatives to enact legislation that would loosen up the points-and-fees cap under the CFPB’s ability-to-repay rule and its qualified mortgage standard. At issue is the bipartisan H.R. 1153, the Mortgage Choice Act (not to be confused with the far more comprehensive, and controversial, Financial CHOICE Act). H.R. 1153 was introduced in February by Reps. Bill Huizenga, R-MI, Ed Royce, R-CA, Steve Stivers, R-OH, and David Joyce, R-OH, along with Gregory Meeks, D-NY, David Scott, D-GA, and Mike Doyle, D-PA. H.R. 1153 would revise the Truth in Lending Act Section 103(bb)(4) definition of points and fees to foster greater consumer choice in mortgage and settlement services under ...

During the recent annual meeting of the Mortgage Bankers Association, a top compliance expert highlighted some of the biggest issues and concerns the industry faces under the new data collection and reporting regime ushered in by the CFPB’s updated Home Mortgage Disclosure Act rule. The short list of the most significant considerations, of course, includes the fair lending implications of the new requirements. Mitch Kider, chairman and managing partner of the Weiner Brodsky Kider PC law firm in Washington, DC, told attendees at one break-out session that HMDA data accuracy (or errors) sets the tone for an entire CFPB examination. “Most of the new data fields companies already have,” he said. “Do you know what story your data currently tells ...

The CFPB recently issued some proposed policy guidance for its Home Mortgage Disclosure Act rule that could help borrowers on the data privacy front, but it might not be enough, according to one compliance attorney. “On the heels of the Equifax data breach and continued cybersecurity threats, the CFPB’s guidance is a clear attempt to alleviate concerns regarding identity theft and information security,” Alexander Koskey, an associate in the Atlanta office of the Baker Donelson law firm, said in a recent client note. “However, significant privacy concerns persist that the increase in the amount of data that is being disclosed for the first time will make it easier to discover the identity of applicants and borrowers.”Additionally, given that the ...

African-American and Hispanic Borrowers Allegedly Harmed by Provident Will Receive $9 Million in Compensation. Last week, Garden City Group, the settlement administrator for Provident Funding Associates, mailed out checks to African-American and Hispanic borrowers to compensate them for having been unlawfully charged higher interest or broker fees on their mortgages from Provident.... Ocwen Enters Into Agreement with Hawaii to Resolve Regulatory Action. Ocwen Financial settled some outstanding issues with regulatory authorities in Hawaii last week, continuing a streak the nonbank servicer has been on for the last two months or so....

Although it’s still unclear when the Treasury Department will release its blueprint for resolving the epic conservatorships of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and reforming the housing-finance system, industry officials are sifting through the Trump administration’s tea leaves. One source who claims to be familiar with Treasury’s thinking on the matter said a consensus is developing around a model where the government-sponsored enterprises re-emerge as “utilities” with little or ...

The news at the Federal Reserve this week can best be summarized by the term “status quo.” The U.S. central bank held interest rates unchanged, its plan to gradually unwind its massive portfolio continues unchanged, and President Trump nominated Fed governor Jerome Powell to succeed Janet Yellen, likely ensuring more of the same when it comes to the future of both interest rates and the balance sheet. When it came to rates, the Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee ...