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Inside the CFPB

December 7, 2009

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Class-Action Clock Ticking, RESPA Bar Warns

Class-action attorneys are gearing up for a new wave of litigation in 2010, notwithstanding the Department of Housing and Urban Development call for temporary restraint in the enforcement of a new Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act rule due to take effect Jan. 1. HUD’s recent instruction to its Mortgagee Review Board to exercise restraint in enforcing the new RESPA... Read More

Weak FHA Reserves Spur Tighter Lender Rules

The Obama administration last week sought authority from Congress to compel errant FHA lenders to indemnify the FHA fund for losses caused by fraud or misrepresentations. Testifying before the House Financial Services Committee last week, Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan also asked lawmakers to expand FHA’s ability to hold lenders... Read More

Lender Discusses Major Causes of Heartburn in New RESPA Rule

The new Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act rule taking effect Jan. 1, 2010 is posing many challenges to lenders as they count down to the rule’s implementation date fraught with uncertainties and doubts. Like the rest of the industry, SunTrust Bank had a full year to adjust its systems to meet the new requirements to the standardized good faith estimate and HUD-1 settlement statement... Read More

RESPA Outreach Campaign

The Department of Housing and Urban Development is hosting a series of live meetings to help stakeholders implement the new mortgage rules under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act. The series will consist of interactive online presentations explaining in plain language the new standardized good faith estimate and the HUD-1 settlement forms, followed by a question-and-answer... Read More

More Pressure on Servicers to Convert Trials to Permanent Mods

Mortgage servicers will assume more burden and greater accountability to ensure that more trial modification mortgage loans are permanently restructured under the Home Affordable Modification Program. The Obama administration last week announced the initiative, the Mortgage Modification Conversion Drive, to help boost the number of permanent resolutions. HAMP servicers have... Read More

Debate to Resume on House’s Huge Regulatory Reform Bill

The House of Representatives is expected this week to take up H.R. 4173, “The Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act,” a massive legislative package that combines all the reform bills that address the myriad causes that led to last year’s financial meltdown.Last week, the House Financial Services Committee sent the 1,279-page bill to the House Rules Committee after... Read More

Industry Seeks Reduction of Risk Retention Share in House Bill

Mortgage industry participants are urging leaders of the House of Representatives to reduce the credit-risk retention requirement in a comprehensive reform bill, warning of dire consequences for both lenders and consumers. Seven trade associations representing independent mortgage banks, community banks, homebuilders and federal credit unions called upon House Speaker Nancy Pelosi... Read More

FHA Proposes Measures to Further Reduce Risk to Its Insurance Fund

The Federal Housing Administration last week proposed to make mortgage lenders liable for FHA-insured home loans originated by their loan correspondents or mortgage brokers and to raise lenders’ net worth requirements to at least $1 million over the next year. Rules proposed by the FHA would implement policy changes adopted by the agency in September to improve its risk-management... Read More

State Roundup

Pennsylvania: Attorney General Tom Corbett has filed lawsuits alleging fraud against four loan modification companies. The companies were accused of making false or misleading claims about their ability to modify loans and of using deceptive mailings implying that their programs were affiliated with government agencies and programs... Read More

Federal Roundup

Department of Housing and Urban Development: HECM Rules on Sub Liens. HUD reminded approved lenders and housing counseling agencies in a Nov. 18 mortgagee... FHA 2010 Loan Limits. On Nov. 25, HUD notified FHA lenders by mortgagee letter about the federal loan limits for... Read More

Worth Noting …

The International Accounting Standards Board recently issued new mark-to-market rules, which spell out the conditions under which firms must apply mark-to-market accounting to their loans and securities, and when historical amortized cost must be used. The rules become effective Jan. 1, 2013. The new rules are a major shift from a previous position in which... Read More

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