The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau appears to have declared war on several decades’ worth of business practices as it encourages lenders and real estate service providers to end their “marketing service agreements” with each other. Moreover, according to industry officials, the CFPB is just getting started on its crackdown as it tries to eliminate both legal and under-the-table business arrangements where a lender – in theory – provides something of value to vendors that it’s conducting business with. The first sign that the mortgage industry is concerned...

The House Financial Services Committee has passed a number of mortgage-related bills designed to ease lenders’ liabilities by simplifying rules, reducing complexity and compliance costs, while a streamlined regulatory relief package gained new momentum in the Senate. Late last week, the committee reported out the following bills: H.R. 1210, (Portfolio Lending and Mortgage Access Act); H.R. 1941 (Financial Institutions Examination Fairness and Reform Act); and H.R. 3192 (Homebuyers Assistance Act). H.R. 1210 would modify...

Ginnie Mae said new MBS issuers need to gain some experience in the agency’s program before they are allowed to do servicing transfers, but some newly approved issuers have attempted to do so. Roy Hormuth, director of single-family securitization at Ginnie Mae, said there has been some misconception among new issuers about doing a co-issuance program in their first month in the Ginnie program despite the fact that they are not ready for it. New issuers must first demonstrate that they can successfully manage the servicing themselves before they can transfer servicing immediately, he said. In a co-issuance transaction, a company sells...

The CFPB last week finalized its earlier proposal to extend to Oct. 3, 2015, the effective date for its controversial integrated disclosure rule under the Truth in Lending Act and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act: the so-called TRID. “The bureau believes that moving the effective date may benefit both industry and consumers with a smoother transition to the new rule,” the CFPB said in announcing the finalization. “The bureau further believes that scheduling the effective date on a Saturday may facilitate implementation by giving industry time over the weekend to launch new systems configurations and to test systems.” Further, “A Saturday launch is also consistent with industry plans tied to the original effective date of Saturday, August 1.” The ...

Deputy Director Antonakes to Depart. CFPB Deputy Director Stephen Antonakes, the number two figure at the bureau, is leaving the agency at the end of July to spend more time with his family, according to an internal memo circulated within the CFPB, a copy of which was obtained by Inside the CFPB. “Steve has been an enormous asset to the bureau, and a great friend and colleague to me since our time together in [Supervision, Enforcement and Fair Lending] in the early days of the bureau,” said the memo, which was authored by Director Richard Cordray. “His contributions to this agency have been extensive in his dual roles as deputy director and supervision, enforcement, and fair lending associate director, and ...

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray tried to sooth industry concerns about regulatory enforcement of the controversial integrated disclosure rule immediately following its implementation on Oct. 3. Appearing before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, Cordray amplified previous statements regarding compliance with the so-called TRID rule, which makes major changes to consumer disclosures under the Truth in Lending Act and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act. “We worked...

The mortgage lending industry widely supports the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s proposal to extend to Oct. 3, 2015, the effective date of its transformative integrated-disclosure rule under the Truth in Lending Act and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act. But more needs to be done, say those who have commented on the planned delay. The American Bankers Association, for example, said, “Given the unique circumstances posed by the TRID rulemaking, the only way to realistically ensure an orderly transition to the new regulatory framework – and to guarantee uninterrupted service to consumers – is to institute a subsequent supervisory transition period that restrains enforcement and liability during a three-month period following the proposed effective date.” For a variety of reasons, the ABA urged...

Mortgage lenders told the CFPB they support the bureau’s recent proposal to extend the effective date of its integrated disclosure rule to Oct. 3, but urged the agency to do yet more to help the industry cope. The Mortgage Bankers Association, for example, in its comment letter said the so-called TRID rule –promulgated under the Truth in Lending Act and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act – when finally implemented “will make the mortgage process considerably more understandable and navigable for consumers, an objective we have long shared.” However, “experience has shown that the TRID rule is far more complicated and wide ranging than any other rule previously issued by the CFPB,” the trade group added. “It is causing significant implementation ...

The mortgage lending industry, fresh off a successful appeal to the CFPB for an extension of the effective date of the pending integrated disclosure rule, has secured the introduction of another piece of legislation in the U.S. Congress that would provide lenders a “hold harmless” enforcement period under the new rule. S. 1711, a bipartisan bill sponsored by Sens. Tim Scott, R-SC, Joe Donnelly, D-IN, and others, would provide for a temporary safe harbor from the enforcement of the rule, from the effective date through Dec. 31, 2015, providing lenders are making good-faith efforts to comply with the rule. The measure is identical to H.R. 2213 introduced in May by Reps. Steve Pearce, R-NM, and Brad Sherman, D-CA. “This bill ...

The CFPB’s integrated disclosure rule under the Truth in Lending Act and Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act – dubbed TRID – is a “once in a generation transformational event for the industry,” according to Franklin Codel, executive vice president of Wells Fargo Mortgage. Even with the recently extended effective date of Oct. 3, 2015, TRID was still at the forefront of topics at a real estate conference in Miami in late June. The pending rule prompted a discussion by panelists who emphasized the magnitude of the upcoming changes. Codel said he thinks the industry is prepared but said it’s going to require strong cooperation among lenders, real estate professionals, settlement agents and consumers to get this right. “Many of the things that ...