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Inside the CFPB

June 11, 2012

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Ability-to-Repay Comment Period Re-Opened

A continued outpouring of concerned industry commentary about the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s pending ability-to-repay rule has prompted the bureau to hit the reset button on the public comment period, giving the mortgage lending industry another opportunity to address some limited, specific issues before the rule becomes final. During a hearing in the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, Sen. Mike Crapo, R-ID, pressed his concerns about the rule with CFPB Director Richard Cordray and questioned him about the bureau’s intentions. “The housing credit market... Read More

Nonbanks Face Pitfalls in CFPB Supervision

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureaufs recently proposed method of extending its supervisory powers to nonbank mortgage lenders it considers potentially risky seems fairly straightforward. But look closely and several potential sinkholes emerge for such lenders, one leading attorney serving the mortgage industry suggested. Despite its outward simplicity, the proposed process presents several potential pitfalls for nonbanks, according to Eric Mitzenmacher, an associate attorney in the Washington, DC, office of the K&L Gates law firm. To begin with, the bureau does not define griskh... Read More

CFPB Wants More Input Before Finalizing Ability-to-Repay Rule

Data are one of the big drivers behind the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s decision to re-open the public comment period on its ability-to-repay rule before making the new regulation final. The Federal Register notice that announces the re-opening the comment period explains that the CFPB has received data from the Federal Housing Finance Agency tracking the performance of loans bought or backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from 1997 to 2011. The CFPB has also received data on other securitized mortgages. According to the bureau, the data can be tapped for a variety... Read More

Lawmakers Want to Press CFPB to Create a Legitimate Safe Harbor

House Financial Services Financial Institutions Subcommittee Chairman Shelley Moore Capito, R]WV, and Rep. Brad Sherman, D]CA, have been circulating a gdear colleagueh letter in an effort to ratchet up political pressure on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to adopt a gsafe harborh for its pending qualified mortgage rule. gWe believe that the final rule must structure the QM as a strong legal safe harbor, not a rebuttable presumption. Both could still be challenged in court,h the lawmakers said. gHowever, as the Federal Reserve correctly stated in its preamble to the rule... Read More

Senators Want to Know How CFPB Will Resolve Internal Weaknesses

A handful of Republican members of the U.S. Senate have asked Richard Cordray, the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, to detail how his agency intends to respond to the internal control and accounting systems weaknesses the Government Accountability Office identified in a recent report. Last month, the GAO issued a report entitled, “Management Report: Opportunities for Improvement in the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection’s Internal Controls and Accounting Procedures,” based on an audit GAO did of the CFPB’s 2011 financial statements. The GAO listed... Read More

CFPB, Prudential Regulators Agree To Synchronize Their Supervision

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the four prudential regulators have released a ¡°Memorandum of Understanding on Supervisory Coordination¡± that clarifies how they plan to coordinate their supervisory activities, consistent with the Dodd©\Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Dodd©\Frank requires the CFPB and the prudential regulators ¨C the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the National Credit Union Administration ¨C to synchronize important aspects of their supervision of insured... Read More

Lender’s Oral Promise Is Unenforceable, 8th Circuit Rules

In the case of Brisbin v. Aurora Loan Services LLC, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit has ruled that a lender’s oral promise to postpone foreclosure is unenforceable; that is, that such a promise is a credit agreement that has to be in writing if it is to be enforceable. Borrower Alison Brisbin filed this lawsuit in Minnesota state court against Aurora Loan Services LLC, Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems Inc. and Freddie Mac, seeking legal and equitable relief from the foreclosure and sale of her home. She alleged three legal theories for invalidation of the... Read More

California Makes It Easier for AG To Investigate Mortgage Fraud

The California Assembly and Senate unanimously passed identical six-bill packages known as the California Homeowner Bill of Rights to simplify the state Attorney General’s ability to initiate and conduct statewide grand jury mortgage fraud investigations. The legislation has been designed to guarantee:Basic standards of fairness in the mortgage process, including an end to dual-track foreclosures.Transparency in the mortgage process, including a single point of contact for homeowners.... Read More

State Roundup

Conference of State Bank Supervisors. Last week, the Conference of State Bank Supervisors and the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System & Registry issued for the first time two quarterly publications that together present a comprehensive overview of all individuals, mortgage companies and depository institutions that make residential mortgage loans in the United States. The Nationwide View of State-Licensed Mortgage Entities collects data on companies, branches and mortgage loan originators who are state-licensed or state-registered through the NMLS. The document presents information about... Read More

Federal Roundup

Office of Mortgage Settlement Oversight. BDO Consulting Tapped. Joseph Smith, monitor of the national mortgage settlement, has selected BDO Consulting, a division of BDO USA, LLP, as his primary professional firm. BDO will join Smith and his team for a period of three and a half years as they oversee the implementation of the settlement involving 49 states, the U.S. government and five of the nationfs largest banks. gAs I entered the process of engaging the primary professional firm, I knew it would be critical to find the right balance of independence and capacity, Smith said... Read More

Worth Noting

A total of 221 rulemaking requirement deadlines mandated by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act have passed, through the first five months of the year, according to the latest Dodd-Frank progress report prepared by the Davis Polk law firm. gThis is 55.5 percent of the 398 total rulemaking requirements, and 78.9 percent of the 280 rulemaking requirements with specified deadlines,h according to the report. Further, of the 221 deadlines that have passed, 148 (67.0 percent) have been missed and 73 (33.0 percent) have been met with finalized... Read More

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