CFPB oversight has not significantly reduced the volume of mortgage originations, but it has changed the kinds of loans being made, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found. Critics of the CFPB have argued that its activities increased compliance costs and ultimately reduced the availability of financial services to consumers. However, a recent New York Fed staff report found there’s little evidence supporting that theory in the mortgage business. The market share of ...

The CFPB is expected to move more quickly to reconsider its payday-lending rule after a federal court denied the delay of the rule’s compliance date that had been requested in a joint motion filed by the CFPB and two trade groups. Two payday-lending trade groups – the Community Financial Services Association of America and the Consumer Services Alliance of Texas – in April filed a lawsuit in Texas federal district court, alleging the agency’s payday-lending rule is unlawful ...

Lawsuits brought by cities with allegations of violations of the Fair Housing Act (FHAct) by lenders are continuing after a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court with a mixed message for lenders.

Going forward, the CFPB plans to consider the scale and frequency of violations when determining future enforcement actions, Acting Director Mick Mulvaney said. In remarks at a public policy luncheon hosted by Women in Housing and Finance, a professional group, Mulvaney said the consumer agency will decide whether the violations are systematic or intentional when determining potential actions against companies under its jurisdiction. For example, 12,000 violations ...

Provisions to protect VA borrowers from abusive lending are now in effect after President Trump signed into law a broad regulatory relief package last week. The VA measures are part of S. 2155, the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act of 2018, which the U.S. Senate passed on March 14 and the House approved on May 22. The bipartisan measures became effective for VA loan applications taken on or after May 25, 2018. They were part of the bipartisan Protecting Veterans from Predatory Lending Act, which Sens. Thom Tillis, R-NC, and Elizabeth Warren, D-MA, introduced in January and later incorporated in S. 2155. The bill was designed to protect VA borrowers from loan churning or serial refinancing and specifically targeted the VA’s Interest Rate Reduction Refinance Loan program, where the churned VA loans ended up. According to the agency, such practices not ...

Industry trade groups are shopping lists of FHA priorities following last week’s Senate confirmation of Brian Montgomery as FHA commissioner and assistant secretary of housing at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. On May 23, the full Senate voted 74-23 to clear the former FHA commissioner for a return engagement after resolving a partisan block on all of President Trump’s nominees for top positions at HUD. Twenty-five Democrats joined 49 Republicans in approving Montgomery. He served as FHA commissioner under both the George W. Bush and Obama administrations. Montgomery was nominated initially in September 2017 and was approved by the Senate Banking Committee on Nov. 28 by an 18-5 vote. Under Senate rules, his nomination was returned to the president at the end of 2017. Montgomery was re-nominated in early January and was again approved by the ...

The Department of Veterans Affairs is seeking volunteers to test its redesigned servicing platform, the first phase of the agency’s ambitious plan to convert the platform into a fully automated end-to-end, integrated mortgage origination and servicing system. The VA has reached out to servicers connected to its VA Loan Electronic Reporting Interface (VALERI) to participate in the testing and transition process. The plan is to convert VALERI, which allows servicers to upload servicing data, ultimately into a complete automated underwriting and loan origination system. The system conversion effort aims to integrate all business lines, including loan origination, property valuations and mortgage servicing to improve performance of the VA loan program to increase usage by veterans and provide better customer service. It also aims to bring more transparency to the VA loan process and holding underwriters, originators and ...

California continued to lead all states in FHA and VA mortgage securitization in the first three months of 2018. The Golden State accounted for 15.3 percent of the $50.6 billion of FHA loans delivered into Ginnie Mae mortgage-backed securities in the first quarter. FHA loans comprised 18.2 percent of loans securitized by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae, and 34.6 percent of agency-securitized loans with primary mortgage insurance. About 66.6 percent of FHA loans securitized during the period were for purchase mortgages while refinance loans accounted for 27.5 percent. The average loan-to-value ratio of FHA loans in Ginnie pools was 93.0 percent. The average credit score of 668.2 reflected FHA’s traditional base of lower-income and first-time homebuyers, with an average debt-to-income ratio of 42.4 percent. The other states among the top five in terms of FHA deliveries into Ginnie pools were ... [Chart]

New York has enacted legislation redefining a reverse mortgage as a “home loan.” With the new law, statutory 90-day pre-foreclosure notices and certificates of merit would be required for all reverse-mortgage foreclosures in the Empire State. New York’s foreclosure settlement conference law has incorporated the new definition by reference, removing any doubt that such meetings are required in most reverse-mortgage cases, said industry attorneys. Gov. Andrew Cuomo, D, signed the amendment into law on April 12, 2018, though it is deemed to have been in full force and effect as of April 20, 2017. However, the pre-foreclosure notice requirement for reverse mortgages has an effective date of May 12, 2018. For actions commenced after May 12, the new state law requires lenders, servicers or assignees to provide a pre-foreclosure notice at least 90 days before initiating legal action against the borrower at the ...

Acting CFPB Director Mick Mulvaney said last week that the bureau will reexamine Obama-era regulations that protect consumers from discrimination in credit transactions. Mulvaney released a statement praising efforts by Congress and the White House to repeal bureau guidance that suggests indirect auto lenders are subject to liability under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. He then said the bureau will reexamine the requirements of the ECOA ...