Last week, Toyota Motor Credit Corp. reached a $21.9 million deal with the CFPB and Department of Justice to settle allegations that the auto lender charged African-American, Asian and Pacific Islander borrowers higher interest rates than white borrowers for their auto loans, without regard to their creditworthiness. In addition to the pay-out to affected minority borrowers, TMCC agreed to change its pricing and compensation system to substantially reduce dealer discretion and accompanying financial incentives to mark up interest rates.As the bureau explained it, TMCC, as an indirect auto lender, sets interest rates, or “buy rates,” for consumers based on credit scores and other risk criteria. Those rates are then conveyed to auto dealers. Auto dealers are then allowed to charge a higher interest rate when they ...

The growing level of student loan debt notwithstanding, the number of complaints about student loans filed by consumers to the CFPB fell by double digits during the fourth quarter of 2015, according to an analysis by Inside the CFPB of information in the CFPB’s consumer complaint database. Overall gripes fell by 31.7 percent from the third quarter to the fourth, the analysis found. The biggest player in this regard, the Sallie Mae spinoff Navient, saw criticisms fall 29.3 percent during the period, as well as by 13.8 percent year over year. This is particularly significant, given the company’s size and market dominance.On a year-over-year basis, overall kvetching rose a modest 2.7 percent, the data show. However, as the chart [with exclusive data chart]...

Will TRID Errors Crimp Earnings? Market observers have been hearing reports that TRID errors and closing delays definitely will be affecting first quarter 2016 earnings, at least for certain nonbanks. The big test for nonbank mortgage stocks is expected to come later this month when PHH Corp., the parent of PHH Mortgage, the nation’s ninth largest servicer, reports 4Q15 results. PHH, which is battling the CFPB over RESPA issues, also has been smacked around by servicing write-downs. It likely got some relief on that score in 4Q15. Stay tuned... CFPB Tries to Clear the TRID Air on Construction Loans. Not only has the CFPB’s TRID rule delayed closings in the conventional market, but it’s being reported that the regulation has ...

DocMagic Software Product Certified for TRID. DocMagic, a provider of document preparation, compliance, eSign and eDelivery solutions, recently received certification for its SmartCLOSE software product by the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization, a nonprofit subsidiary of the Mortgage Bankers Association. Specifically, SmartCLOSE has been awarded what is known as a Standard Level Certification for the TILA/RESPA Integrated Disclosure (TRID) rule. According to the MBA, the objective behind SmartCLOSE is to bring lenders, settlement service providers, and other relevant entities together inside a secure environment to share, edit, validate, audit, track and collaborate on documents, data and fees. SmartCLOSE received Standard Level certification for MISMO Version 3.3 within the TRID business domain. “With the Uniform Mortgage Data Program (UMDP) quality initiatives ...

TRID Webinar to Focus on Construction Lending Issues. The Federal Reserve next month plans to host officials from the CFPB to present a webinar on questions related to the bureau’s integrated disclosure rule in the context of construction lending. The event is to be held Tuesday, March 1, 2016, from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. Eastern time. Those interested in viewing the live event may register online at https://www.webcaster4 .com/Webcast/Page/577/13246. Additional information and resources related to the TRID rule may be accessed at the CFPB’s website. CFPB the Target of House Republicans Again This Week. The House Financial Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit plans to examine the CFPB’s “assault on access to credit and trampling of ...

Wells Fargo Settles with FHA for a Record $1.2 Billion. Wells Fargo, the largest player in the Ginnie Mae market, last week agreed to pay the Department of Justice and Department of Housing and Urban Development $1.2 billion to settle FHA underwriting claims. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Wells noted that the agreement “resolves certain civil claims that the federal government had pending” against the lender tied to FHA lending from 2001 to 2010. But it also covers “other potential civil claims relating” to the megabank’s government production in other time periods as well. The megabank, which also is the nation’s largest overall home lender and servicer, saw the settlement coming and booked an additional “legal ...

Legacy RMBS-related legal action continued this week in both Washington, DC, and in New York City as the fallout from the financial crisis continues. In the nation’s capital, Morgan Stanley agreed to a second settlement with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., this time for $62.95 million, to resolve RMBS-related claims stemming from the failure of three financial institutions in the wake of the collapse of the mortgage market. The institutions are...

Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae produced a combined $88.96 billion of single-family MBS in January, a modest 1.4 percent decline from December, according to a new ranking and analysis by Inside MBS & ABS. Ginnie production was actually up 7.2 percent from the previous month, while both the government-sponsored enterprises posted declines in new issuance. January’s agency MBS production included...[Includes two data tables]

The ongoing decline in interest rates is wreaking havoc on the sale of “bulk” mortgage servicing portfolios, causing investors to pull back on pricing, and sending some bidders to the exits, at least for a little while. Servicing advisors who play in the space confirmed to Inside Mortgage Finance that pricing isn’t what it used to be, and is off peaks seen a year ago when bids – in retrospect – were too aggressive and later resulted in write-downs. Mark Garland, president of MountainView Servicing Group, Denver, admitted...

Steady growth over the course of 2015 may have taken the long-suffering mortgage servicing market close to the $10 trillion mark at the end of the year, according to a new analysis and ranking by Inside Mortgage Finance. The top 50 companies at 2015 serviced a combined $7.326 trillion in home mortgages, a slight 0.3 percent increase from the end of the third quarter. If the rest of the industry followed their lead, the supply of servicing outstanding rose to $9.982 trillion by the end of December. Based on trends during the first nine months of 2015, as reported by the Federal Reserve, the supply of home loan debt outstanding may have trickled...[Includes one data table]