he CFPB and the Department of Justice said in an amicus brief with the Supreme Court of the United States that a plaintiff does not necessarily have to prove actual harm from a violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act in order to have standing under Article III of the U.S. Constitution. The specific question in Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins is whether the respondent (Robins) identified an Article III injury-in-fact by alleging that the petitioner (Spokeo) had willfully violated the FCRA by publishing inaccurate personal information in consumer reports – in this case, on a consumer-reporting type website – without following reasonable procedures to assure the information’s accuracy. In their brief, the CFPB and DOJ argue that the invasion of the respondent’s ...

Commercial banks and savings institutions reduced their holdings of non-mortgage ABS again during the second quarter, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS analysis of call reports. Banks and thrifts held $147.55 billion of non-mortgage ABS as of the end of June, a 5.1 percent decline from the previous quarter. The banking industry’s aggregate ABS portfolio has been shrinking steadily since the end of 2013 and was down 15.2 percent over that period. Banks shed...[Includes two data tables]

Servicing federal student loans would likely become more costly and cumbersome under a set of best practices recently issued by a White House-sponsored interagency panel. Back in March, the Obama administration assembled a group of officials from the Treasury Department, the Department of Education, the Office of Management and Budget, and the Domestic Policy Council to monitor trends in the government’s student loan portfolio, budget costs and borrower assistance efforts. As part of that effort, the task force was directed...

A number of consumer-oriented organizations are urging members of Congress to defeat H.R. 1737, the “Reforming CFPB Indirect Auto Financing Guidance Act,” legislation they say would cripple the bureau’s ability to act against discriminatory auto lending practices. H.R. 1737, introduced this spring by Rep. Frank Guinta, R-NH, would require the CFPB to rescind its guidance from March 2013 regarding the fair lending risks associated with car dealer interest rate markups. The bill also would require the bureau to provide notice and take comments only for guidance related to auto lending through car dealers. Additionally, the legislation would make publicly available all information relied on by the CFPB, and redact any information exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act....

The number of complaints that consumers filed with the CFPB about debt collection practices fell 9.6 percent from the first quarter to the second and plunged 53.3 percent at the six-month mark versus one year ago, a new analysis by Inside the CFPB found. The biggest banks among the top 50 companies as ranked by complaints all acquitted themselves well at the mid-year 2015 point compared with the year before. Most notable in this regard was Wells Fargo, which saw consumer gripes fall 74.7 percent.Top debt collection firms had a more mixed performance. On the one hand, Encore Capital Group saw consumer criticisms fall 67.2 percent year over year, and 14.9 percent quarter over quarter. But Enhanced Recovery Company ...

Securitization industry participants raised concerns after an appeals court last week refused to hear an appeal of an earlier ruling that reversed the long-held federal preemption that nonbanks have relied on to keep securitized loans exempt from state usury laws. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit denied the appeal of Madden v. Midland Funding last week. No explanation was provided with the denial. The appeal was supported by the Structured Finance Industry Group and the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, among others. SFIG said...

The FHA will not issue a new case number for any FHA-to-FHA refinance if the current mortgage has a repair or rehabilitation escrow account in FHA Connection. The change, which is one of several updates to FHA Single Family Policy Handbook 4000.1, applies only to FHA streamline refis. It aims to ensure that escrow funds of the mortgage being refinanced are properly applied as well as conform to system requirements. The updated sections become effective on Sept. 14, 2015. Another change clarifies that the payoff statement for the mortgage being refinanced is the only document required when calculating the maximum mortgage amount for simple refi transactions. In addition, guidance for loan-to-value limits for cash-out refis has been updated to clarify that the 85 percent LTV restriction applies only to cash-out refis. HUD also noted that appraisers have flexibility in regards to when inspections should ...

Standard & Poor’s ranked as the most active rating service in the non-mortgage ABS market at the midway mark in 2015, but came in last in the non-agency MBS sector. S&P provided ratings on $63.55 billion of non-mortgage ABS issued during the first half of the year, or 60.3 percent of total issuance. That was off slightly from its 64.1 percent market share for all of last year. The company has gotten more active in rating credit card deals, but has lost some of its share in vehicle finance and business loan ABS. Fitch was...[Includes two data tables]

Student loan debt is no joke in America – and mortgage bankers, in particular, know all about it, especially since it’s being singled out as the chief reason why some borrowers can’t afford to buy their first home. Each year, a new group of college graduates has to start figuring out how to pay off their student loans. There’s even a website dedicated to showing the national student debt in real time – roughly $1.2 trillion as Inside Mortgage Trends went to press – along with credit card debt and auto loans. Currently, 15 percent of mortgagors have...

The CFPB filed suit in federal district court late last month against NDG Enterprise, characterizing the offshore payday lender as a complex web of commonly controlled companies, and accusing the operation of collecting money consumers did not owe, in violation of the Dodd-Frank Act’s prohibition on unfair, deceptive, and abusive acts and practices. NDG Enterprise originates and collects payday loans over the Internet to consumers in all 50 states, including states such as New York where those loans are void because they violate state usury caps and licensing requirements, according to the bureau.“We are taking action against NDG Enterprise for collecting money it had no right to take from consumers,” said CFPB Director Richard Cordray. “Companies making loans within ...