Did DoJ Opine on Ocwen v. CFPB? No One’s Talking. Earlier this year, Ocwen Financial asked Judge Kenneth Marra of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, West Palm Beach Division, to invite the U.S. attorney general to appear and participate in the company’s challenge to the constitutionality of the CFPB.... Last Call for Public Comments on TRID ‘Black Hole’ Proposal. The industry has until 11:59 p.m. Oct. 10, 2017, to submit comments to the CFPB regarding its proposal to close the “black hole” associated with the bureau’s integrated disclosure rule under the Truth in Lending Act and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act....

The latest supervisory highlights report from the CFPB found that mortgage lenders, banks and nonbanks alike, put the controversial TILA/RESPA Integrated Disclosure rule – TRID – into effect without much of a problem, more or less. “Initial examination findings and observations conclude that, for the most part, supervised entities, both banks and nonbanks, were able to effectively implement and comply with the Know Before You Owe mortgage disclosure rule changes,” the report stated. However, examiners did find some violations relating to the content and timing of loan estimates and closing disclosures. The problem, however, is that the CFPB does not indicate in these reports which lenders or how many of them may have been guilty of the infractions, so there’s no way ...

The CFPB has frequently failed to provide the mortgage industry with enough guidance to ensure proper compliance with its substantial outpouring of new rules and regulations, resulting in “regulation by enforcement” far too often, according to a new white paper issued by the Mortgage Bankers Association.“Director Richard Cordray has argued that the bureau’s enforcement regime provides ‘detailed guidance for compliance officers’ and that it ‘would be compliance malpractice for the industry not to take careful bearings from [consent] orders about how to comply with the law,’” the white paper pointed out. “Unfortunately, the reality is that the bureau’s enforcement program offers only fragmentary glimpses of how the bureau interprets the laws and regulations it enforces.” Instead of giving the ...

Investors Unite, an advocacy group for GSE shareholders, criticized the Mortgage Bankers Association’s plan for GSE reform and stated that the trade group is promoting too-big-to-fail banks. The comments come after MBA President and CEO David Stevens blogged about the nine-year anniversary of the conservatorship earlier this month, and touted the benefits of MBA’s proposal for GSE reform. The group’s plan replaces the implicit government guarantee of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with an explicit guarantee. “In our plan, private capital would assume more risk, which would lessen the exposure of taxpayers during any economic headwinds,” he said. Stevens also went on to praise...

Much of the historical discussion about the mortgage industry going fully digital and adopting e-mortgages has revolved around cost savings, greater efficiencies, validating compliance and other benefits. But at the end of the day, the biggest reason is that lenders’ customer base is increasingly focused on digital technology, and lenders need to go where the borrowers are. “That’s where the consumers are, right? Finally, everybody’s going online to shop for most of their products, and mortgages are starting to happen the same way,” said Tim Anderson, director of eServices for DocMagic, during a webinar last week sponsored by Inside Mortgage Finance. “They’re going out there looking for rates and pricing, they’re looking for real estate. If you want to capture that marketplace, you meet them out there in cyberspace.” Scott Stephen, president of the online division of Guaranteed Rate, noted...

Lenders and investors at the ABS East conference this week hit officials from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau with a number of complaints about the agency’s mortgage rules. The bureau officials suggested that data will have more of an impact on policy changes than general complaints. Patrick Orr, a policy analyst at the CFPB, reiterated that the bureau is accepting feedback and considering changes or guidance for the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure rule, special qualified-mortgage standards that apply to loans eligible for sale to the government-sponsored enterprises and aspects of the ability-to-repay rule, among other issues. A representative from one lender said...

When House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling, R-TX, first introduced the second version of his Financial CHOICE Act, he acknowledged the comprehensive regulatory relief package might not make it through the Senate in one piece. He said he had a “short game” and a “long game,” suggesting he was open to small, incremental change while still pushing forward with more comprehensive change over the long haul. Last week, the Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee executed a little of that “short game” strategy, holding a hearing to consider a handful of legislative proposals to foster a more efficient federal financial regulatory regime, including two mortgage-related bills. The potentially more significant bill is...

Members of Congress wasted no time getting to work on the CFPB when they returned to the nation’s capital last week after the Labor Day holiday. A subcommittee of the House Financial Services Committee held a hearing to consider a few legislative proposals to foster a more efficient federal financial regulatory regime, including a soon-to-be introduced TRID Improvement Act. Slated to be introduced by Rep. French Hill, R-AR, the TRID Improvement Act of 2017 would amend the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act and the Truth in Lending Act to expand the period in which a creditor is allowed to cure a good-faith violation on a loan estimate or closing disclosure from 60 to 210 days after consummation. The bill also ...

The biggest mortgage lenders and the national industry trade groups have yet to formally submit comments to the CFPB regarding the bureau’s proposal that would close the so-called black hole associated with the agency’s integrated disclosure rule. But smaller players aren’t waiting around for the big dogs to weigh in and are expressing their support for the agency’s proposed solution. Monica Montgomery, head of mortgage compliance for Dubuque Bank & Trust, said she fully supports removing the four-business-day limit for providing closing disclosures for purposes of resetting tolerances and determining if an estimated closing cost was disclosed in good faith. “There are many circumstances where a closing is delayed beyond the control of the creditor after a CD had been ...

A complaint filed in late 2015 in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in an attempt to initiate a class-action case against PHH Corp. and Realogy Holdings Corp. and some of their subsidiaries and affiliates has been brought to an end, after the defendants agreed to pay $17 million to resolve the dispute. PHH, Realogy and the other industry participants were accused of violating Section 8(a) of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act by allegedly “paying and receiving kickbacks, referral fees, or other things of value in connection with the referral of title insurance and other settlement services to Title Resource Group and its affiliates.” They also were accused of running PHH Home Loans as an improper ...