The CFPB, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency brought a combined $37.3 million enforcement action against Citizens Bank earlier this month for allegedly failing to credit consumers the full amounts of their deposited funds. The regulatory agencies accused the bank of keeping money from deposit discrepancies when receipts did not match actual money transferred. “Citizens Bank regularly denied customers the full credits of their deposits when there were discrepancies between deposit slips and the actual money transferred into the bank,” said CFPB Director Richard Cordray. “The bank chose to ignore these discrepancies and harmed many consumers by pocketing the difference.” The CFPB said its investigation found that from January 1, 2008, to ...

The CFPB has denied a recent petition from Selling Source, LLC, a lead-generation company in Las Vegas, and Tim Madsen, a company employee and recipient of a civil investigative demand from the bureau, to modify or set aside the action. “Petitioners raise a number of objections to the CID, none of which warrants setting aside or modifying the CID,” said the bureau. First, the petitioners contend that the CID’s notification of purpose is too vague and thus fails to comply with legal and regulatory requirements, according to the CFPB’s decision. The bureau said the related statute and regulation do not require a detailed narrative and that it may draw the boundaries of its investigation quite generally. Second, the petitioners contend ...

World Acceptance Corp., a publicly traded small-loan consumer finance company based in Greenville, SC, recently revealed that CFPB enforcement staff is considering whether to recommend the agency bring legal action against the company. The company received a civil investigative demand from the bureau back in March, the stated purpose of which is to determine whether the company has been or is “engaging in unlawful acts or practices in connection with the marketing, offering, or extension of credit.” World Acceptance Corp. responded, within the deadlines specified in the CID, to “broad requests for the production of documents, answers to interrogatories and written reports related to loans made by the company and numerous other aspects of the company’s business,” the firm said ...

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....

Former CFPB Deputy Director Steve Antonakes is the latest high level official at the bureau to cash in on his few years at the agency, taking a position as chief compliance officer for Eastern Bank, a full-service commercial bank headquartered in Boston. Antonakes, who most recently served as deputy director and as the associate director for supervision, enforcement and fair lending at the CFPB, brings 25 years of compliance, risk management and financial services experience to Eastern Bank. While at the CFPB, Antonakes served as its second-highest-ranking official and was responsible for the supervision of all banks and non-banks under the bureau’s jurisdiction and the enforcement of federal consumer protection and fair lending laws. Antonakes was appointed by successive governors ...

Get Your TRID On. The CFPB has put out a Know Before You Owe guide for real estate professionals to help them navigate the upcoming TILA/RESPA Integrated Disclosure rule, otherwise known as TRID. The guide spells out the major elements of the rule, such as the steps associated with closings, and provides an explanation of the new disclosures. Industry pros can download from the bureau’s website print-ready versions in Adobe Acrobat PDF format as well as pre-order printed copies from the U.S. Government Printing Office. TRID Drives ClosingCorp to Integrate With Savana’s Loan Origination Product. ClosingCorp, a San Diego-based residential real estate closing cost data and technology vendor for the mortgage and real estate services industries, has integrated its Loan ...

The Department of Veterans Affairs has adopted a final rule aligning the Home Loan Guaranty Program’s disclosure and interest-rate adjustment requirements with the servicing provisions in the Truth in Lending Act, as recently revised by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The rulemaking will ensure VA remains consistent with other consumer finance and housing regulations governing adjustable-rate mortgages, the agency said. The rule is effective Sept. 11, 2015. The VA adopted without the change the rule as proposed on March 30, 2015. In this rule, VA adopted TILA’s minimum 45-day look-back period to clarify that lenders making VA ARMs must meet the statute’s minimum notification requirements. Specifically, disclosures and notifications must be provided to borrowers before an interest-rate adjustment. Lenders are required to adjust ARM rates based on the most recent ...

The FHA’s overall delinquency rate declined in the second quarter of 2015, although late payments increased in the 30-day and 60-day categories on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s latest national delinquency and foreclosure survey. The FHA, on the other hand, reported some variances in its delinquency data. The 90-day plus delinquency rate in June was down 30 basis points from March’s 6.42 percent on an unadjusted basis. Considering seasonal factors, the decline was just 2 bps. Results of the MBA survey showed FHA’s overall delinquency rate at 9.00 percent in the second quarter, down from 9.10 percent in the previous quarter, as the serious delinquencies (90 days or more) fell over the same period. On the other hand, the 30-day and 60-day delinquency rates for FHA loans were up by a combined 10 bps from the ...

Two FHA lenders in Texas have agreed to pay a total of $469,419 in civil money penalties to resolve government allegations they charged bogus fees to borrowers to inflate the purchase amount of newly built manufactured housing. Among 11 alleged violations of FHA rules, the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Mortgagee Review Board accused American Home Free Mortgage of Prosper, TX, of artificially increasing mortgage costs by an average of $12,000 per loan through improper fees. The fees were paid allegedly to a company owned and operated by AHFM’s sales manager. In addition, HUD alleged there were multiple violations of quality and annual certification requirements. As part of the settlement agreement, without admitting to any fault or liability, AHFM agreed to pay a $169,419 fine and to the permanent withdrawal of its FHA approval. In June 2014, the MRB also heard a ...

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 ...