The mortgage industry can expect swift passage of comprehensive anti-predatory lending legislation in the House, but the legislation could stumble in the Senate. Although members of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee have demonstrated the same... Read More

The mortgage industry should prepare for a new compliance regime that is emerging from the current subprime market crisis, in which fair lending and consumer protection are no longer treated as separate concepts, according to compliance experts. Regulatory... Read More

Federal regulators are focusing on access to credit and discretionary pricing, and the mortgage industry will soon see the evidence, according to Carol Evans, special counsel for fair lending with the Federal Reserve’s Division of Consumer and Community Affairs... Read More

Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-CT, is wavering on anti-predatory lending legislation, but Sen. Charles Schumer, D-NY, said he would draft a bill mandating a national system of supervision for mortgage brokers, along with a suitability standard. Schumer, chairman of the... Read More

Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan Banks would be acting as watchdogs for loan pricing disparities under legislation approved by the House Financial Services Committee last week. H.R. 1427, the “Federal Housing Finance Reform Act of 2007,” was approved... Read More

The secondary mortgage market is alarmed by House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank’s plans to include provisions mandating assignee liability in his forthcoming anti-predatory lending bill. George Miller, executive director of the American... Read More

The Mortgage Bankers Association cautioned lawmakers against taking action either to slow down the passage of FHA reform legislation or to compromise the single-family program’s financial health. “FHA modernization must proceed quickly if it is to be part of a solution... Read More

The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council, Federal Trade Commission, Securities and Exchange Commission, and Commodity Futures Trading Commission are seeking comment on a model form for privacy notices financial institutions are required to give... Read More

Illinois. The Department of Financial and Professional Regulation has proposed new rules... South Carolina. State regulators are considering steps to combat mortgage fraud... Colorado. The Senate Appropriations Committee is considering legislation... Washington. Three firms offering “foreclosure rescue” services have agreed... Read More

Office of Thrift Supervision: Final CRA Rule. The OTS has finalized a rule revising four areas of its Community Reinvestment Act regulations. The changes will realign the OTS CRA rules with those of the federal banking regulators. The thrift regulator broke... Read More

Sen. Jack Reed, D-RI, a member of the Senate Committee on Banking... The Consumer Mortgage Coalition has moved to a new location... The Real Estate Service Providers Council will hold its annual conference... The Consumer Bankers Association will host a Community Reinvestment Act... Read More

Reform of Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act regulations has been sidetracked once again by changing priorities at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina bumped RESPA reform off the top of HUD’s rulemaking priorities... Read More