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Inside the CFPB

February 2, 2009

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Tough Consumer Protections, Oversight in ‘09

The Mortgage Bankers Association last week outlined a plan to seek comprehensive consumer protection legislation that would create uniform, national anti-predatory lending rules and establish a single federal regulator for all mortgage originators. Under the plan, the MBA advocated combining in one bill key provisions from an anti-predatory lending bill (H.R. 3915) the House approved in 2007... Read More

House Panel Approves Revised Cramdown Bill

The House Judiciary Committee approved cramdown legislation last week despite vehement GOP opposition, but not before making a few changes to appease critics. H.R. 200, the “Helping Families Save Their Homes in Bankruptcy Act of 2009,” would allow bankruptcy judges to modify the terms of a residential mortgage in Chapter 13 bankruptcy – a court action referred to as... Read More

Industry Gains in Stimulus Bill

The House of Representatives last week approved a massive $819 billion economic stimulus package that contains provisions for higher FHA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loan limits. The key provision in H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, for the mortgage industry would restore the maximum FHA and conforming loan limit of $729,750, which was established temporarily... Read More

SCOTUS Agrees to Review AG’s Preemption Case v. OCC, Banks

The U.S. Supreme Court surprised the mortgage industry by agreeing to review a dispute involving federal preemption of New York’s investigation of several national banks and their operating subsidiaries for alleged discriminatory mortgage lending practices. The Jan. 16 decision to grant certoriari in Cuomo v. Clearing House Association caught industry lawyers off guard... Read More

Bill to Reinstate Seller-Funded DPA Reintroduced in the House

Legislation reinstating seller-funded downpayments for FHA-insured single family mortgages has been reintroduced, but any chance of seeing it in an economic stimulus package as proponents hope is almost nil, according to industry observers. Introduced by Rep. Al Green, D-NC, and co-sponsored by Reps. Maxine Waters, D-CA, and Gary Miller, R-CA, H.R. 600, the “FHA Seller-Financed... Read More

Appraisal Groups Slam Proposed Federal Property Valuation Guide

Professional appraisal groups warned that lenders’ safety and soundness could be compromised if proposed federal interagency guidelines allowing the use of alternative valuations in lieu of opinions from certified appraisers were approved. The proposal is “fundamentally flawed” and would actually weaken the safety and soundness of real estate loans, the American Society of Appraisers... Read More

HUD Issues Guide to Ease Servicer Participation in Project Lifeline

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has issued guidelines that would allow servicers of delinquent FHA-insured home loans to participate in Project Lifeline without running afoul of the agency’s timeframe for foreclosure. Project Lifeline is an outreach strategy announced by the Hope Now Alliance in February last year to help homeowners who are 90 days or more past due and... Read More

FTC Sues Broker for Improper Disposal of Private Customer Data

A Nevada mortgage broker is facing federal charges for allegedly discarding approximately 40 boxes of documents containing personal consumer information into an unsecured dumpster. In a complaint filed in federal district court, the Federal Trade Commission accused Gregory Navone, owner of two mortgage brokerage companies in Las Vegas, of violating the Fair Credit Reporting... Read More

State Roundup

Ohio. The Board on the Unauthorized Practice of Law of the Supreme Court of Ohio has issued an advisory opinion clarifying that a non-attorney employee of a bank or a lender may fill... Nevada. The Commissioner of Mortgage Lending has proposed regulatory changes that would require the reporting of “insider loans” and prohibit the lending limit for insider loans... Read More

Federal Roundup

FDIC/FRB/OCC/OTS: Community Reinvestment Act Q&As. The federal thrift and banking agencies are seeking comment on one new and two revised question-and-answer on the CRA... Federal Reserve: Distressed-Loan Renegotiation. The Fed has announced plans to renegotiate distressed mortgages over which it has control in compliance with Troubled... Read More

Worth Noting …

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have extended their moratorium on foreclosure evictions through... The Senate has unanimously confirmed Shaun Donovan to be Secretary of the... Three Democrats have been appointed to the Senate Banking Committee... The Office of Thrift Supervision last week closed down the $353 million Suburban... Read More

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