House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling, R-TX, last week released a detailed discussion draft of his pending revised Financial CHOICE Act that would extensively revise the mortgage regulatory landscape. Issues of interest to the mortgage industry include manufactured housing, the definition of points and fees, a qualified-mortgage safe harbor for loans held in portfolio, regulatory relief for community banks, transitional licensing for loan originators, Home Mortgage Disclosure Act records maintenance and disclosure requirements, and HMDA data privacy. There would be some drastic changes made to the CFPB, too, most notably the elimination of its rulemaking, supervisory and enforcement authority and its market monitoring functions and turning it into a law enforcement agency. Other CFPB-related changes include: Changing the name ...

The Conference of State Bank Supervisors urged the leadership of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee to enact legislation that would grant qualified-mortgage status under the CFPB’s ability-to-repay rule for loans held in portfolio, as part of a broader set of proposals to stimulate economic growth. The CSBS was one of a number of groups that responded to an invitation by the banking committee to provide ideas for stimulating economic activity. “State regulators have long supported a flexible approach to underwriting for institutions that retain mortgages in portfolio because interests are inherently aligned between consumers and lenders that retain 100 percent of the risk of default,” said the CSBS. “One solution that would tailor the requirement to the ...

The CFPB’s latest fair lending report to Congress, quietly distributed earlier this month, indicates that two mortgage issues will stay on the agency’s front burner: redlining and servicing. On the redlining front, the CFPB said it will “work to evaluate whether lenders have intentionally discouraged prospective applicants in minority neighborhoods.” When it comes to servicing, the bureau indicated it will “determine whether some borrowers who are behind on their mortgage … payments have more difficulty working out a new solution with the servicer because of their race, ethnicity, age, or gender.” The agency continued: “We are committed to ensuring fair, equitable and nondiscriminatory access to credit by finding and eliminating discriminatory lending practices, and also by encouraging lenders to maintain ...

School Accrediting Body Wins One Against the CFPB. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has upheld a district court ruling that a civil investigative demand (CID) issued by the CFPB against the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS) is unenforceable. This is a big deal, and not just as it relates to the bureau. “The decision represents the first time in decades that a federal appeals court has struck down an administrative subpoena issued by the federal government,” said Allyson Baker of Venable LLP, who served as one of the lead counsel for the firm on behalf of ACICS....

Blockchain technology could help reduce the compliance costs associated with Regulation AB2, according to the Structured Finance Industry Group and the Chamber of Digital Commerce. The two trade groups recently submitted a comment letter to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority in response to FINRA’s report on distributed ledger technology. FINRA, an independent regulator of broker-dealers, is considering the implications of blockchain for the securities industry. Blockchain is...

A steep drop in VA-backed securities issuance in the first quarter of 2017 suggests that Ginnie Mae’s efforts to curb serial refinancing of VA loans are working, according to agency officials. Speaking on a panel at the annual VA Lenders Conference in Kansas City, MO, this week, Ginnie executives said that a change in pooling requirements for streamlined refinance mortgages appears to have curbed a destructive appetite for refinancing new VA loans within six months of closing. The practice has caused faster prepayments in Ginnie mortgage-backed securities pools and smaller payouts to investors. VA refi volume fell 42.7 percent from the previous quarter (see chart on page 2), contributing significantly to the 32.2 percent decline in total VA loan securitization during the period. John Getchis, senior vice president at Ginnie Mae, said he does not think the churning trend will continue because the ...

When it comes to selling Ginnie Mae mortgage servicing rights the past two years, it’s been mostly a bear market, but all that may be changing soon. At least that is what sellers and their merger and acquisition advisors hope. Mark Garland, executive vice president of MountainView Financial Solutions, Denver, said that of late, “We have seen a few Ginnie trades go off at a level closer to full value.” Garland told Inside FHA/VA Lending that he expects this trend to continue with prices tightening over the summer “provided rates hold and [prepayment] speeds stay largely in line with expectations.” And if that happens, there could be an increase in the ability of FHA/VA lenders to securitize excess cash flows. But that’s getting a little ahead of the equation. Over the past 24 months, the Ginnie MSR market has been difficult for two reasons: the fear of lawsuits/sanctions tied to FHA lending, and fast ...

The initial material defect rate on sampled FHA loans targeted for a post-endorsement technical review was down in the fourth quarter of 2016 from the previous quarter, according to the FHA’s latest quarterly loan review update. FHA’s Lending Insight reports the material defect rate prior to curing fell to 49 percent in 4Q16 from 53 percent in the previous quarter, based on an analysis of 5,267 sampled FHA loans endorsed between Oct. 1, 2016, and Dec. 31, 2016. Of the loans sampled, 75 percent were purchase-money mortgages; 10 percent were streamlined refinances; 7 percent rate and term refinances, and 8 percent, Home Equity Conversion Mortgage loans. Twenty percent of the sample, 1,081 loans, were conforming while 25 percent, or 1,313 loans, were found to be defective. About 13 percent of the loans were denied endorsement. On the other hand, approximately 41 percent of loans ...

Well, the good news for the mortgage industry is that someone finally got around to talking about the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act when it came time to file another brief in PHH Corp. v. CFPB. But the bad news: It was the CFPB, and it doubled down on the main arguments it made the first time around, reaffirming its controversial interpretation. The CFPB insisted Director Richard Cordray correctly interpreted the act. First, the agency said PHH’s “kickback scheme” violated RESPA. The interpretation of RESPA by the three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit was incorrect, said the CFPB. “Its crucial error was holding that the meaning of section 8(c)(2) of RESPA – in ...

Three financial regulation scholars told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit that the CFPB is a highly accountable agency when looked at in its entirety. Making that argument in a friend of the court brief in PHH Corp. v. CFPB were two law professors, Michael Barr at the University of Michigan Law School and Adam Levitin at Georgetown University Law Center, along with Deepak Gupta, founding principal of the Gupta Wessler law firm in Washington, DC. Gupta was senior litigation counsel and senior counsel for enforcement strategy at the CFPB back in the days when Elizabeth Warren was setting up the fledgling agency. “Viewed holistically, the CFPB is a highly accountable agency,” the trio said....