Issuance of mortgage securities backed by USDA loans dropped during the first three months of 2018. Approximately $4.03 billion of rural housing loans with a USDA guarantee were delivered in Ginnie Mae MBS during the first quarter, down 18.3 percent from the previous quarter. Agency data also showed an 11.7 percent decline in USDA securitization volume from the same period a year ago. Rural housing loans accounted for 1.5 percent of all loans securitized in Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae pools and 2.8 percent of loans with private or government-backed mortgage insurance. Purchase loans comprised the bulk of USDA loans that were delivered into Ginnie MBS pools. PennyMac knocked Freedom Mortgage out of first place with a total of $753.3 million in securitized USDA loans despite a 10.4 percent decline in production. Freedom Mortgage accounted for $523.3 million of USDA loans pooled in ... [Charts]

The CFPB fired all the members serving on three of its advisory boards, including the Consumer Advisory Board, indicating a shift in its approach to external engagement. The consumer agency announced last week that it plans to reconstitute three of its advisory groups – the Consumer Advisory Board, the Community Bank Advisory Council, and the Credit Union Advisory Council – with “new, smaller memberships.” “By both right-sizing its advisory ...

Acting Director Mick Mulvaney last week abruptly cancelled in-person meetings with the advisory groups, sparking concerns that he is shunning input from outside groups. Shortly afterwards, he disbanded three groups and announced plans to start from scratch. Mulvaney canceled a Consumer Advisory Board meeting scheduled for June 6 and 7, and a previous meeting in February, which the board members said had been on the looks for months. A Credit Union ...

Acting CFPB Director Mick Mulvaney recently announced that the consumer agency will resume the collection of private consumer data. He curbed data collection immediately after he took over the CFPB last year due to cybersecurity concerns. “Out of an abundance of caution and a desire to protect Americans’ privacy, I placed a hold on the collection of personally identifiable information and other sensitive data,” Mulvaney said in a memo to the CFPB staff ...

In response to a request for information on external engagements, both industry groups and consumer advocates want the CFPB to increase external engagement and pay more attention to it. The agency now has four advisory groups – the Consumer Advisory Board, the Community Bank Advisory Council, the Credit Union Advisory Council and the Academic Research Council. The bureau also uses other forums such as town hall meetings and field hearings to obtain ...

Most of the mortgage provisions in the recently enacted Dodd-Frank reform act will not take effect immediately and will require action by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Provisions to protect VA borrowers from abusive lending are now in effect after President Trump signed into law a broad regulatory relief package last week. The VA measures are part of S. 2155, the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act of 2018, which the U.S. Senate passed on March 14 and the House approved on May 22. The bipartisan measures became effective for VA loan applications taken on or after May 25, 2018. They were part of the bipartisan Protecting Veterans from Predatory Lending Act, which Sens. Thom Tillis, R-NC, and Elizabeth Warren, D-MA, introduced in January and later incorporated in S. 2155. The bill was designed to protect VA borrowers from loan churning or serial refinancing and specifically targeted the VA’s Interest Rate Reduction Refinance Loan program, where the churned VA loans ended up. According to the agency, such practices not ...

The tailored Dodd-Frank reform bill signed into law by President Trump this month should be a boon to investors in Ginnie Mae securities because it will reduce loan churning, but there could be some bumps along the road until all the details are ironed out.

Acting CFPB Director Mick Mulvaney said last week that the bureau will reexamine Obama-era regulations that protect consumers from discrimination in credit transactions. Mulvaney released a statement praising efforts by Congress and the White House to repeal bureau guidance that suggests indirect auto lenders are subject to liability under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. He then said the bureau will reexamine the requirements of the ECOA ...

Congress has sealed the deal on Dodd-Frank reform with a 258-159 vote last week in the House. Thirty-three House Democrats voted in favor of the reg relief bill, which President Trump promptly signed into law. The Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act passed the Senate in March on a bipartisan 67-31 vote. The House approved S. 2155 last week without making any amendments. …