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Inside the CFPB

September 7, 2015

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Ninth Circuit Refuses to ‘Give Deference’ to CFPB via Amicus

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with the CFPB on its interpretation of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, but refused to “give deference” to the amicus brief in which the bureau’s argument was presented. “Here, CFPB is interpreting the statute, not the regulation. An agency’s interpretation of the statute – when presented in an amicus brief – is not promulgated in the exercise of its formal rulemaking authority, so no … deference is warranted,” ruled the court. Further, even if certain terms in the statute also appear in the regulation, the CFPB “is in fact interpreting Congress’s words in the statute, so we give no deference to CFPB’s interpretation,” the court said. “In addition, because the statutory terms at issue ... Read More

Mortgage Industry Makes a Push For TRID Safe Harbor Measures

Members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives are returning to Washington, DC, this week, after their August recess concluded with the Labor Day holiday weekend. That means mortgage industry officials have less than one month to convince Congress and the Obama administration to sign off on regulatory relief from the CFPB’s pending TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure (TRID) rule, which kicks in Oct. 3, 2015. Last week, the Mortgage Bankers Association began a grass-roots lobbying campaign urging its members to get in touch with their respective members of Congress to support legislation that would establish a temporary enforcement grace period and legal safe harbor under the TRID. “A temporary legal safe harbor for lenders will ensure the new requirements are ... Read More

Realtors Expect to Extend Purchase Timeline Due to TRID Requirements

The requirements associated with the CFPB’s pending TILA/RESPA Integrated Disclosure (TRID) rule will likely prompt a majority of Realtors to alter their purchase contracts, according to the results of a new survey from the National Association of Realtors. “When asked about their plans to deal with the new TRID rules, 55.9 percent of Realtors plan to change their purchase agreements to reflect a longer timeline, while 31.2 percent will add contingencies to the contract,” the survey said. Also, 37.0 percent of respondents indicated they have put together plans with their lender or title company to help even out the process, while a significant share plan to perform final inspections earlier (32.5 percent) or will provide contracts and amendments to the ... Read More

‘Normalizing’ Complaint Data Requires Safeguards: Industry

Mortgage lending industry representatives called on the CFPB to establish a range of data safeguards if the agency intends to proceed with its expressed interest in “normalizing” its consumer complaint data.For the bureau’s purposes, “normalizing” the data refers to ways in which the agency could take the raw data it receives from its consumer complaint online portal and transform it to make it meaningful and useful to the general public.In commenting on the bureau’s recently released request for information on the subject, the American Bankers Association said it generally supports the concept and objective of providing context for the data. However, it “does not believe that any normalization strategy should proceed unless and until the bureau adopts measures ... Read More

Complaints About Credit Reporting Show Widely Divergent Results

Consumer complaints to the CFPB about credit reporting were down slightly from the first quarter and up modestly at the mid-year mark versus a year ago, according to an analysis by Inside the CFPB. However, some dramatic differences were in play among the top 10 subjects of complaints. The most notable exception to the overall moderate trend line was sixth-ranked CoreLogic, which saw consumer gripes skyrocket an eye-popping 900.0 percent at the six-month mark compared to 2014. LexisNexis was also bad, with a 241.7 percent leap during the same time period. And Early Warning Services turned in the third-worst performance among the top 10, demonstrating a 100.0 percent increase in consumer criticisms. Overall, however, the results were far tamer. First ... Read More

OIG Detects Weaknesses in CFPB’s Hiring Processes

The CFPB’s Office of Human Capital does not always follow the control activities it established to enforce management’s directives when it comes to recruiting and selecting employees, according to a new report from the Office of Inspector General (OIG) for the Federal Reserve and CFPB. Further, “Although recent OHC initiatives have strengthened control activities, we found that OHC’s internal controls can be further enhanced,” said the OIG. For example, the CFPB can improve its ability to track and measure the timeliness of its hiring, as well as monitor recruitment and selection activities for potential deficiencies. The OIG then cited the U.S. Government Accountability Office’s Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government, which state that internal control contributes to management’s ... Read More

CFPB Should Enhance its Contract Management Processes, OIG Says

The CFPB can do a better job with its contract management processes and related controls, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) for the Federal Reserve and CFPB said in a new report. One problem detected was that certain payments did not conform to federal guidelines. “In general, we found the CFPB to be in compliance with applicable laws, regulations and CFPB policies and procedures, although we noted that certain contract management controls could have been improved in three contracts among the 29 contracts in our sample,” the report stated. The three contracts represented $6.2 million out of the OIG sample’s total value of $166 million. “In the first contract, the CFPB made payments that did not conform to the contract ... Read More

CFPB, FHFA Release Reports on National Mortgage Database

The CFPB and the Federal Housing Finance Agency jointly released two technical reports recently about the development of the National Mortgage Database (NMDB) and the quarterly National Survey of Mortgage Borrowers (NSMB). The NMDB project is a multi-year project being jointly undertaken by the two agencies. “The project is designed to provide a rich source of information about the U.S. mortgage market based on a five percent sample of residential mortgages,” the first technical report stated. The NMDB will enable the FHFA to meet current statutory requirements to conduct a national mortgage market survey, collect data on the characteristics of individual mortgages, including those eligible for purchase by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and those that are not, and including ... Read More

In Brief: Worth Noting I

FDIC Official Calls for Broader QM Parameters. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Vice Chairman Thomas Hoenig recently came out in support of congressional legislation to expand the kinds of loans that can be deemed qualified mortgages under the CFPB’s ability-to-repay rule. However, with Congress coming back from its annual August recess this week, the biggest hurdle facing such measures may be whether lawmakers feel enough urgency to act by year’s end. Among other provisions, Hoenig called for mortgages held in portfolios of certain banks to be defined as QMs and receive the protections established by the bureau for such mortgages. To qualify, under Hoenig’s proposal, banks would have to be “more traditional” institutions that emphasize the core commercial banking model and ... Read More

In Brief: Worth Noting II

FCC Order Conflicts With CFPB Mortgage Servicing Rules, Other Foreclosure Prevention Efforts, Industry Group Says. A recent order from the Federal Communications Commission clarifying certain provisions of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act clashes with the CFPB’s mortgage servicing rule and other federal regulations designed to help struggling homeowners hold onto their homes, a representative of national mortgage lenders, servicers and service providers wrote top government officials last week. The FCC’s order, released June 18, 2015, aims to bolster consumer protections against unwanted telephone calls and texts by, in part, restricting the ability of mortgage servicers, debt collectors and others to make autodialed or prerecorded phone calls without prior express consent of the person called. Violators face strict liability for noncompliance... Read More

In Brief: Regulatory Compliance Update

M&T Bank Settles Allegations It Used ‘Neighborhood Racial Criteria’ for Mortgage Product. A court approved M&T Bank's settlement with the Fair Housing Justice Center under which the Buffalo, NY-based bank will pay $485,000 while agreeing to revise its residential origination policies. The nonprofit FHJC filed a lawsuit in February after investigating the bank’s “Get Started Program.” The mortgage product is aimed at homes in “majority minority” neighborhoods or in low- or moderate-income areas. The product is for first-time homebuyers and it allows for low downpayments and the ability to finance closing costs. The FHJC found that M&T loan officers discriminated against potential borrowers based on race and national origin, alleging violations of the Fair Housing Act. Among other issues, minority ... Read More

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