More Gripes About TRID Dribble In. After what seemed like a lull in hearing complaints from lenders regarding the integrated disclosure rule known as TRID, the gripes are picking up again. At least that’s what we detected from some originators a few days ago. One loan broker who works the southern California market said she’s been telling some clients that it will take an extra seven days to close. “It was 15 before wholesale caught up, but now they’re behind again due to heavy sales volume.” Broker Slams Bureau’s Complaint Database. While he was running for a House seat in West Virginia, mortgage trade group president Marc Savitt was mostly quiet on issues tied to the CFPB. But now that ...

Examination reviews by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for compliance with the integrated disclosure rule known as TRID are now in full swing, according to leading industry attorneys. That was the biggest take-away from a panel of three legal experts who were featured in a webinar hosted by Inside Mortgage Finance late last week that focused on CFPB examinations and how lenders can navigate their way through them. Although TRID was not a key focus of the webinar, it did come up as a topic during the question-and-answer period. The attorneys were asked...

Guild Mortgage vowed to defend itself against government charges that it improperly originated and underwrote mortgages, which later caused millions of dollars in losses to the FHA and taxpayers. In a statement released after the Department of Justice filed its complaint in federal district court in Washington, DC, last week, Mary Ann McGarry, president and chief executive officer of Guild Mortgage, said the government’s action is unwarranted and meritless. “The implication that any default on an FHA loan by a borrower represents wrongdoing by the lender is not justified...

FHA activity was lackluster in the first three months of 2016 as loan originations fell 7.8 percent from the prior quarter, according to Inside FHA/VA Lending’s analysis of agency data. The weak first-quarter production of $53.5 billion appeared to continue a trend from 2015, which saw the fourth quarter close with $58.1 billion, down significantly from $73.7 billion in the third quarter. In contrast, FHA originations fared better year-over year. Loan production was up 35.6 percent in the first quarter compared to the same period last year. Purchase lending totaled $36.5 billion in the first three months with overall production trending downward during the period. Borrowers in the 640-679 and 680-719 credit score ranges made up the bulk of new endorsements for January and February, the latest FHA data show. It is unlikely that trend will change even if March endorsements were added. Between all ... [ 2 charts ]

Recent circuit court rulings may bolster FHA lenders’ defense against the government’s heavy use of the False Claims Act in FHA lending cases, according to industry attorneys. In the years following the financial crisis, the Department of Justice and the relators bar have used the FCA aggressively to target banks and nonbank mortgage lenders for losses incurred by FHA due to poor underwriting and false certifications. The DOJ and the Department of Housing and Urban Development have recovered billions of dollars through settlements with various mortgage lenders and servicers, using increasingly creative theories of liability to hold them responsible for FHA losses. This week, the DOJ filed a lawsuit in federal court in Washington, DC, accusing Guild Mortgage of improper origination and underwriting of FHA-insured mortgage loans from January 2006 through December 2011. As in ...

There are important details in the recent M&T Bank settlement with the Department of Justice and in this week’s announced filing of a lawsuit against Guild Mortgage that could help lenders avoid a potential false claims lawsuit, according to industry observers. The government’s complaints against the two FHA lenders were brought under the False Claims Act, which penalizes acts that intend to defraud the government and taxpayers. The government has been using this powerful statutory tool in the mortgage arena in its attempt to recover FHA losses arising from fraud and noncompliance with agency requirements. As in previous FCA cases against FHA lenders, both M&T Bank and Guild Mortgage were accused of false certification, lax underwriting, poor quality control, failure to review early payment defaults, and failure to self-report deficient loans and remediate problems in a timely manner. In addition, the ...

Trade groups representing lenders, homebuilders and appraisers have asked Congress to hold a hearing this year on the future of appraisal regulation.In a joint letter, five industry groups urged the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs to reevaluate oversight of the appraisal industry and the current federal regulatory structure for real estate appraisal.The committee last held an appraisal oversight hearing in 2004. Federal appraisal regulations have been untouched since the enactment of the Federal Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act of 1989, the trade groups noted. In addition, the groups asked that both federal and state responsibilities be reassessed to see if they continue to serve consumers and market participants well, as well as promote competition in the marketplace. In addition to federal regulation, states regulate appraisers as well. The groups want to know from Congress whether federal oversight of appraisers is still necessary.

The Department of Veterans Affairs has issued new guidance and some servicing reminders in connection with mobile-home foreclosures, consent judgments, servicer transfers, liquidation appraisal fees and others.VA servicers must specifically refer to the mobile home in foreclosure declaration documents to ensure that both the home and the land are properly foreclosed, the VA said. Many states require two separate foreclosure procedures for every transaction – one to foreclose the interest on the land and the other to foreclose on the title of the mobile home. The VA said foreclosure on the title of the mobile home may have to be filed with state’s Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). When a VA loan on a home on wheels is referred to foreclosure, the servicer must inform the foreclosing attorney that it is a mobile home and whether a DMV filing is required. The VA will reconvey the mobile home to the ...

HUD Sends Final Condominium Rule to OMB for Clearance. The Department of Housing and Urban Development has sent a final rule to the Office of Management and Budget that would make it easier for borrowers to obtain FHA financing for certified condominium units. Once issued, the final rule will replace temporary guidance which HUD issued in November last year to ease FHA’s condo approval process. The move is aimed at increasing affordable housing options for first-time and low-income homebuyers. The final rule is expected to reflect measures in the interim guidance, including modification of the requirements for condo project recertification, revised calculation of FHA’s required ownership-occupancy percentage, and expansion of eligible condo-project insurance coverages. IG Scrutinizes HUD Oversight of SFHAs’ Downpayment Assistance Programs. Residential lenders that rely on ...

Fannie Mae’s Economic & Strategic Research Group surveyed senior mortgage executives earlier this year and confirmed that lenders are still facing challenges in complying with the CFPB’s integrated disclosure rule known as TRID, according to new findings released by the government-sponsored enterprise last week. The controversial rule integrates the consumer disclosure requirements under the Truth in Lending Act and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act. According to Sheila Teimourian, vice president and deputy counsel at Fannie, more than three-quarters of the lenders surveyed indicated that the two biggest challenges were managing or coordinating with third-party technology vendors and communicating with key players, such as the buyer, seller and loan officer. About eight in 10 of those who cited coordinating with ...