The private mortgage insurance industry has called for harmonized qualified-mortgage standards to discourage potential arbitrage that might adversely affect consumers. In a comment letter, the U.S. Mortgage Insurers urged the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to assess whether the various QM standards established under the Dodd-Frank Act have created arbitrage opportunities to the detriment of consumers. The CFPB is about to begin a reevaluation of its ability-to-repay rule/QM rule. QM standards are different for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Banks than for FHA, VA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The USMI said analysis should focus on the different treatment of points and fees and maximum borrower debt-to-income ratio among the various QM standards. The CFPB can address the calculation of points and fees under its ATR/QM rule by ...

The Conference of State Bank Supervisors told the CFPB that the ability-to-repay /qualified mortgage rule has negatively affected financial institutions that, because of their proximity to the local community, rely on more flexible underwriting and determination of ability to repay. “State regulators continue to support the principles that drive the ATR/QM rule, but have several recommendations to better tailor the rule commensurate to the community bank business model,” the CSBS said in its comment letter on the bureau’s proposal to begin assessing the rule. Citing Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. data, the regulators noted that since 2010, 1,173 community banks have either left the residential mortgage lending space or extensively restricted those business lines. Rural Lending is Suffering “Although this decline ...

NewLeaf Wholesale has announced Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) guidelines for its FHA and VA mortgage products. PACE financing allows homeowners to retrofit their homes to make them more energy-efficient. The homeowner pays the loan as part of their property tax bill. In some states, PACE liens have superior status over all other liens, including a mortgage loan. A PACE assessment is a debt of property, where the obligation is tied to the property as opposed to the property owner. Hence, when the property is sold the new owner assumes the PACE lien. Last year, the FHA and VA issued guidance for approving purchase and refinance of mortgaged properties with PACE liens provided certain requirements are met. One requirement is that past due PACE loan amounts retain a first-lien position and this has raised some concern among industry groups that are opposed to ...

Compliance issues involving nonbank servicers remain an ongoing problem, according to new reports from state regulators. And the regulators raised concerns about how a shift by lenders to purchase mortgages increases compliance risks. “The increase in transfers of mortgage servicing rights to non-depositories in recent years has stressed these servicers’ sometimes inadequate operating systems and infrastructures, requiring greater regulatory attention,” the Multi-State Mortgage Committee said in a report to state regulators. The MMC was established by state regulators to supervise multi-state nonbank mortgage entities. Eight mortgage-related exams were...

A representative of the Conference of State Bank Supervisors testified before the U.S. Congress recently, telling lawmakers that smaller financial institutions can’t engage in as much residential mortgage lending activity as they otherwise would because of the growing reporting requirements under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, as well as the CFPB’s ability-to-repay/qualified mortgage rule. In his testimony before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, Charles Cooper, commissioner of the Texas Banking Department and immediate past chairman of CSBS, said the CFPB’s recent expansion of HMDA reporting requirements has placed a disproportionate burden on smaller and less complex institutions, potentially restricting mortgage lending as well. “In 2018, the number of data points required to comply with HMDA reporting standards ...

One emerging issue identified by state mortgage regulators over the last year has to do with the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, according to a new report issued by the Multistate Mortgage Committee.Specifically, MMC examination teams found numerous data discrepancies in the Loan Application Register (LAR) submissions, when compared to the data contained in the reportable loan files. “Within the review process, examiners seek to validate the accuracy of the LAR data submitted to meet the requirements of HMDA, and in multiple instances it was determined that the data was either inaccurate or incomplete,” the report said. As the CFPB works to update the HMDA submission process, which may eliminate some of these issues, the MMC said it will also ...

An effort by a handful of state attorneys general to intervene in an enforcement action brought by the CFPB against Sprint Corp. back in 2014 and lay claim to the unspent settlement funds will likely come to naught, after the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York blocked the effort. In its enforcement action, brought in December 2014, the CFPB accused Sprint of billing wireless customers tens of millions of dollars in unauthorized third-party charges from 2004 to 2013. The issue here involved charges for what are known as “premium text messages” or “premium short messaging services” because they are frequently delivered by text messages. Examples of such products and services include ringtones, wallpaper images, and text ...

The Conference of State Bank Supervisors has called for granting community banks relief from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s ability-to-repay rule as well as the reporting requirements under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act. Testifying before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee last week, Charles Cooper, commissioner of the Texas Banking Department and immediate past chairman of CSBS, said the rules limit the ability of smaller financial institutions to engage in residential lending. “Smaller and less complex institutions have reported...

One of the top concerns among compliance professionals is the seeming inevitable conflict that the CFPB’s amendments to its mortgage servicing rules will have with various state laws – in particular, the possibility that compliance with one may put the servicer out of compliance with the other. That was one of the key takeaways from a break-out session early last week at the American Bankers Association’s annual regulatory compliance conference in Orlando. “One issue that comes up fairly frequently has to do with what a servicer should do when there is a conflict between state and federal law. We’ve seen this come up especially when it comes to the various early intervention notices that servicers have to send to delinquent borrowers,” ...

Four financial regulatory agencies recently recommended that appraisers get temporary practice permits and waivers when moving to another state in order to help alleviate the shortage of appraisers, especially in rural areas. The Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the National Credit Union Administration are concerned that the limited number of state-certified and licensed appraisers is slowing down appraisal turnaround times. They suggest that when an appraiser moves to another state, that the new state regulator recognize the certification or license issued by another state on a temporary basis for federally related transactions. The banking regulators also recommend...