The nation’s subservicing specialists increased their contracts by a modest 4.4 percent on a sequential basis in the second quarter of 2015, a sign that many originators would rather outsource the nitty-gritty chore of loan processing to others instead of doing it in house. Compared to the same period a year earlier, subservicing grew a more impressive 20.5 percent to $1.410 trillion, according to exclusive survey figures compiled by Inside Mortgage Finance. The increasing complexity and compliance cost of servicing make...[Includes one data table]

The CFPB is committed to helping the mortgage industry fully implement the pending TILA/RESPA Integrated Disclosure (TRID) rule to the maximum extent possible, and its examination approach will focus on being “diagnostic” and “corrective,” not “gotcha” oriented, a top bureau official said during an industry conference early this week. Speaking at the Mortgage Bankers Association’s 2015 regulatory compliance conference in Washington, DC, Diane Thompson, managing counsel in the bureau’s Office of Regulations, tried to reassure anxious lender representatives about the industry’s transition to a dramatically different lending environment under the new regulatory regime. “We understand that this is a major change ... that we are not going to flip some magic switch on Oct. 3 and the world will suddenly ...

As the pending Oct. 3, 2015, effective date for the CFPB’s integrated disclosure rule approaches, both the bureau and industry groups issued last-minute guides and other materials to help various sectors comply as effectively as possible. The rule is intended to harmonize and integrate the disclosures required under the Truth in Lending Act and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act; hence the term “TRID,” an acronym for the more formal TILA/RESPA Integrated Disclosure rule. Last week, on the lender front, the bureau released three supervisory publications that have been updated to reflect the new TRID effective date. They include the interagency TILA and RESPA examination procedures, developed in coordination with the members of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council Consumer ...

The CFPB recently brought enforcement actions against two large debt buyers and collectors, Encore Capital Group, in San Diego, and Portfolio Recovery Associates, in Norfolk, VA, accusing the companies of using deceptive tactics to collect bad debts. The bureau said the companies bought debts that were potentially inaccurate, lacking documentation or unenforceable. “Without verifying the debt, the companies collected payments by pressuring consumers with false statements and churning out lawsuits using robo-signed court documents,” said the CFPB. In terms of the companies’ allegedly illegal litigation practices, the CFPB accused the pair of misrepresenting their intention to prove debts they sued consumers over. They also allegedly sued or threatened to sue consumers past the statute of limitations. Further, the companies allegedly ...

The Consumer Mortgage Coalition recently told the CFPB one way to improve the bureau’s proposed regulation having to do with “successors in interest” is to eliminate the requirement to make successorship determinations when they are not necessary. The CFPB’s goal in this regard is to make loss mitigation more available to successors. However, the CMC said in a recent memo to the bureau that loss mitigation does not always require a successorship determination. “If a claimant ... cannot keep the loan reasonably free of default and the servicer will not pursue due-on-sale enforcement, there is no per se need to determine successorship,” said the trade group. “Of course, there may be a need to determine loss mitigation. Loss mitigation may ...

Wells Fargo this week reinstated the 640 minimum credit score requirement, following through on its threat to re-impose credit overlays due to its frustration with FHA’s republished loan-level certification proposal. Officials said the re-proposed version of the proposal, which was initially issued for comment in May, still disappoints in spite of industry input to put concerned FHA lenders at ease (See next story for background). In 2014, Wells dropped the minimum credit-score requirement to 600 for FHA borrowers after talks with the Department of Housing and Urban Development and policymakers. The FICO readjustment applies to Wells’ FHA retail purchase loans, aligning it with the 640 minimum credit score requirement for the bank’s correspondent business. In a previous statement, Wells reiterated the need for clearer rules in order to ...

The Department of Housing and Urban Development recently saw its long-running attempt to recover $179 million from a bankrupt FHA lender come to a disappointing close, receiving only a little over half-a-million dollars after liquidation. HUD’s Inspector General gave the agency the green light to book its share of funds available to pay an $89.9 million HUD claim against the now-defunct lender Taylor, Bean & Whitaker, ending further action against the company. In 2006, whistleblowers filed a “qui tam” lawsuit in federal district court in Georgia alleging that TBW and Home America Mortgage had falsely certified and approved poorly underwritten loans for FHA insurance. In 2009, the two mortgage lenders filed for bankruptcy separately but were later consolidated by the court into one bankruptcy case. In May 2010, the Department of Justice, on behalf of HUD, filed a ...

Members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives are returning to Washington, DC, this week, after their August recess concluded with the Labor Day holiday weekend. That means mortgage industry officials have less than one month to convince Congress and the Obama administration to sign off on regulatory relief from the CFPB’s pending TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure (TRID) rule, which kicks in Oct. 3, 2015. Last week, the Mortgage Bankers Association began a grass-roots lobbying campaign urging its members to get in touch with their respective members of Congress to support legislation that would establish a temporary enforcement grace period and legal safe harbor under the TRID. “A temporary legal safe harbor for lenders will ensure the new requirements are ...

The requirements associated with the CFPB’s pending TILA/RESPA Integrated Disclosure (TRID) rule will likely prompt a majority of Realtors to alter their purchase contracts, according to the results of a new survey from the National Association of Realtors. “When asked about their plans to deal with the new TRID rules, 55.9 percent of Realtors plan to change their purchase agreements to reflect a longer timeline, while 31.2 percent will add contingencies to the contract,” the survey said. Also, 37.0 percent of respondents indicated they have put together plans with their lender or title company to help even out the process, while a significant share plan to perform final inspections earlier (32.5 percent) or will provide contracts and amendments to the ...

FDIC Official Calls for Broader QM Parameters. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Vice Chairman Thomas Hoenig recently came out in support of congressional legislation to expand the kinds of loans that can be deemed qualified mortgages under the CFPB’s ability-to-repay rule. However, with Congress coming back from its annual August recess this week, the biggest hurdle facing such measures may be whether lawmakers feel enough urgency to act by year’s end. Among other provisions, Hoenig called for mortgages held in portfolios of certain banks to be defined as QMs and receive the protections established by the bureau for such mortgages. To qualify, under Hoenig’s proposal, banks would have to be “more traditional” institutions that emphasize the core commercial banking model and ...