Was Industry “Foaming at Mouth” Over ATR Liability Much Ado About Nothing? “All this foaming at the mouth about legal liability [on qualified mortgage standards] did not pan out. It was an over-reaction,” CFPB Director Richard Cordray said last week. During a hearing held by the House Financial Services Committee, the director noted that he recently met with the CEOs of the top 40 mortgage companies as part of an event hosted by the Mortgage Bankers Association. Cordray said the CEOs revealed that none of these lenders have faced lawsuits alleging violations of standards for qualified mortgages. One industry veteran later said that Cordray took “the disingenuous position that since no lawsuits have been filed, all the concerns about legal ...

Certain unidentified independent mortgage bankers are in talks with the Department of Housing and Urban Development over alleged False Claims Act violations, according to a top mortgage industry executive. Speaking recently on the Internet radio program “Lykken on Lending,” Dave Stevens, president of the Mortgage Bankers Association and a former FHA commissioner, said the lenders are quietly negotiating and have avoided media attention, so far. On air, Stevens said he and a “certain group of individuals had met with HUD Secretary Julian Castro” to discuss the FCA complaints. The MBA official said the use of the FCA – which allows for treble damages – represents an “extraordinary overreach” by the government that is threatening the overall FHA program. Stevens did not name the lenders are or say how many there are, but he did mention an ...

The Inspector General of the Department of Housing and Urban Development called for civil and administrative actions against loanDepot for allowing ineligible “gifts” on FHA-insured loans.Acting on a referral from HUD’s Quality Assurance Division, the IG focused on FHA loans originated by loanDepot that included downpayment assistance from the Golden State Finance Authority. A review of 75 loans endorsed from Oct. 1, 2013, to Jan. 31, 2015, determined that 62 loans involved gift funds that did not comply with FHA requirements. In addition, the privately held nonbank lender “inappropriately charged borrowers $25,700 in fees that were not customary or reasonable, as well as $46,510 in discount fees that did not represent the purpose of the fee,” the IG said. The IG blamed loanDepot’s overreliance on Golden State’s Platinum Downpayment Assistance Program as well as ...

The majority of higher-priced first-lien loans in 2014 were FHA-insured, according to the latest Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data. Approximately 45 percent of FHA-insured, first-lien purchase mortgages had annual percentage rates in excess of the reporting threshold, similar to the percentage in the latter half of 2013, the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council noted. Higher-priced loans are those with APRs that exceed the average prime offer rate by at least 1.5 percentage points for first-lien loans and at least 3.5 percentage points for subordinate-lien loans. The data on the incidence of higher-priced lending show that about 8 percent of first-lien purchase loans originated in 2014 have APRs that exceed the loan-price reporting thresholds, up from about 5 percent in 2013, the FFIEC said. The higher APRs for FHA loans were due to a slight increase in ... [ 1 chart ]

VA loan servicers have until Nov. 1, 2015, to review and comment on the new VA Servicer Handbook and ensure compliance with the established policy and guidelines. The servicer handbook combines guidance issued via circulars and news flashes over the years. In addition, the agency has started hosting biweekly servicer calls to update VA servicers on policy changes and new developments, according to Andrew Trevayne, assistant director of loan management with the VA Home Loan Guaranty Program. VA-guaranteed loans are serviced through the VA Loan Electronic Reporting Interface (VALERI) system. The handbook also discusses roles and responsibilities for VA loan-administration staff and servicers. It does not change or supersede any regulation or law affecting the loan program. Servicers may submit comments on the updated handbook to ...

The FHA has a number of rulemakings in the regulatory pipeline and other policy topics related to mortgage origination and servicing, all lined for action in the fall. The program changes are geared towards FHA single-family priorities, such as expanding first-time homebuyers’ and underserved creditworthy borrowers’ access to credit, ensuring the long-term viability of FHA Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund and making it easier to do business with the FHA. Agency data show that, as of July 31, 2015, first-time homebuyers accounted for 82 percent of FHA purchase loans compared to 72 percent in the prior year. FHA officials attributed the surge in purchase loans to the half percentage point reduction in the annual mortgage insurance premium, which they translated into a yearly savings of $900 for a household with an average mortgage-loan size of $180,000. On Sept. 15, the ...

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has yet to clarify what it doesn’t like about “marketing service agreements” between originators and Realtors, and the less the agency talks about the topic – publicly, at least – the more lenders fear that eventually the regulator will try to eliminate such agreements altogether. To date, at least two lenders – Wells Fargo and Prospect Mortgage – have announced they are ending their MSAs, but sources indicate that several firms have undergone CFPB audits (or soon will) with a special emphasis on how they manage business referrals with realty companies and how much money changes hands. Inside Mortgage Finance has learned...

It looks like the mortgage industry is on the verge of obtaining another concession from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau regarding enforcement of its pending integrated disclosure rule. The rule will streamline the consumer disclosures required under the Truth in Lending Act and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act. This TILA/RESPA Integrated Disclosure rule is slated to take effect Oct. 3, 2015, and will create a new regulatory regime – and perhaps a good bit of havoc in the process, at least in the short term. The anxiety over the confusion and expected delays has prompted...

The Securities and Exchange Commission dropped its civil fraud case against Thomas Lund, former executive vice president of Fannie Mae’s single-family business in the years leading up to conservatorship. The discontinuance of the case was announced this week by Lund’s attorney Michael Levy of Paul Hastings. “Thomas Lund has been vindicated,” he said. “After investigating for three years, litigating for another three years, deposing 50 witnesses and hiring four experts, the SEC concedes that it has not prevailed,” he said, adding that Lund will refrain, for 12 months, from signing things that he never signed in the past and has no intention of signing in the future. Lund will pay the agency $10,000. However, the SEC is classifying the payment as a “gift” to the...

Apprehension and uncertainty were palpable among industry representatives meeting in Washington, DC, this week over how the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau views marketing services agreements and how it plans to deal with them in the future. David Stevens, president and CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association, urged the bureau to provide formal, specific guidance during the trade group’s regulatory conference this week. “We sent...