Guide to Marketing Services Agreements, RESPA and the CFPB PDF Format

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Without any new regulation, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau changed the mortgage business-development game dramatically when it began enforcing its very different interpretation of marketing services agreements.

Unlike the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which enforced the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act until the CFPB’s creation in 2011, the new regulator determined that MSAs were likely to run afoul of RESPA’s anti-kickback standards. The CFPB’s enforcement actions on the subject have had a chilling effect on the practice, causing at least a few lenders to chuck their existing agreements rather than risk the bureau’s response.

The CFPB’s guidance on the matter hasn’t helped much. While saying that it finds the practice very risky, and likely to cross the line, the bureau hasn’t solidly outlawed MSAs—or given much weight to the industry’s argument that these arrangements were sanctioned by HUD under the very same laws that the CFPB finds they violate.

In the Guide to Marketing Services Agreements, RESPA and the CFPB, Inside Mortgage Finance looks at MSAs, their past and their future, as well as CFPB RESPA enforcement beyond these arrangements. With this guide, you’ll know what is specifically not allowed in MSAs and what types of arrangements are most problematic. You’ll also come away with an understanding of how the CFPB is approaching its RESPA responsibilities.

Partial Table of Contents

Overview of MSAs

• Common Services Provided
• Elements of Written MSAs
• Risks for MSA Parties

Regulation of MSAs

• RESPA Section 8
• HUD Interpretations of RESPA
• Pre-CFPB Enforcement Issues
• Reasonably Related Test
• Beyond MSAs

Enforcement by the CFPB

• Consent Order with Lighthouse Title
• Administrative Proceeding Against PHH
• Enforcement Action Against Genuine Title
• Guidance from the CFPB
• Analysis of CFPB Bulletin
• Advice on What Not to Include in an MSA
• Enforcement Issues Under the CFPB
• Monitoring a Concern
• Regulation Beyond RESPA
• State Regulators
• Lead-Generation Agreements
• Joint Ventures
• Desk Rentals
• Joint Marketing
• Vendor Oversight

The CFPB and PHH

• Initial Action By the Appeals Court
• Reply Brief from CFPB
• Response from PHH

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