The D.C. circuit decision involving PHH Mortgage and Sec. 8 of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act should lead the CFPB to rethink its 2015 guidance on marketing services agreements, industry groups say. The CFPB under former director Richard Cordray issued guidance suggesting that many MSAs are designed to evade RESPA’s prohibition on the payment and acceptance of kickbacks and referral fees. “What the bureau did was to create an impression that it would ...

The CFPB last week dismissed its precedent-setting case against PHH Corp., officially overturning the bureau’s controversial interpretation of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act under former Director Richard Cordray. In the end, the four-year legal battle over alleged RESPA violations regarding captive reinsurance arrangements ended up with no fine or penalty being assessed on the mortgage lender. The final court ruling that upheld the constitutionality ...

PHH Corp. decided not to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court a lower court ruling that effectively overturned the CFPB’s controversial interpretation of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act under former Director Richard Cordray. The lender’s lawsuit also unsuccessfully challenged the constitutionality of the CFPB. In January, the en banc panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit sided with PHH on the RESPA components of the dispute, invalidating ...

The House Could Vote on the Reg Relief Bill By Memorial Day. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-WI, last week said the House will take up S. 2155, the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, as currently written and free from amendment. “We’ve got an agreement to be moving different pieces of legislation,” Ryan said. “So, we will be moving [S. 2155]. We’re also going to be moving in the Senate a package of bills that we think [Includes four briefs] ...

The CFPB last week finalized a proposed amendment to its “Know Before You Owe” rule, fixing what is commonly known in the industry as the “black hole” issue. The final rule adopts a July 2017 proposal with only minor, technical changes. In broad terms, it gives lenders more flexibility in issuing revised closing disclosures that comply with the complex disclosure requirements mandated by Truth in Lending Act and Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act ...

After losing ground in a Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act interpretation in the PHH case, the CFPB lost the motion for reconsideration in another RESPA case, which carries further implications for the industry, attorneys said. The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky denied the CFPB’s motion to reconsider a decision in favor of Kentucky law firm Borders & Borders over allegations it illegally paid kickbacks under the RESPA statute. The significance of the case lies in the fact ...

PHH Corp., which is slated to be bought by Ocwen Financial, is waiting to see if it still has any legal liability from a Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act enforcement matter brought by the CFPB, according to a recent 10-K filing. In January 2018, the en banc court of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit reinstated an October 2016 panel decision as it related to RESPA issues, which included vacating the CFPB’s order imposing $109 million of disgorgement ...

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 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 ...

The House of Representatives this week approved bills extending regulatory relief pertaining to the integrated disclosure rule under the Truth in Lending Act and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, or TRID.