Mortgage lenders may face tougher consumer protection regulations from the Federal Reserve in 2008. Testifying before the House Financial Services Committee last week on federal monetary policy, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said he plans to propose changes to...
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Mortgage lenders should begin planning their subprime compliance strategies based on a borrower’s ability to repay, a standard that will likely become more prominent in – if not the cornerstone of – future federal and state consumer protection laws and regulations...
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Federal and state regulators will soon be conducting joint oversight of nonbank subprime lenders under a pilot project designed to strengthen consumer protection and subprime regulation. Nondepository subsidiaries of bank and thrift holding companies...
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Mortgage lenders be warned: making an “unsuitable mortgage loan” to minority borrowers or members of any other protected class could get you into a civil rights tussle with the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Failure to determine suitability of a loan...
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An advisory committee of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has recommended a number of actions addressing the current problems in the subprime market, including a possible ban on stated-income loans. The prohibition on stated-income products would be...
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In a recent installment of Supervisory Insights, examiners with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. outline the five primary types of mortgage fraud they find as they evaluate financial institutions for compliance and safety and soundness, and how lenders can prevent...
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A recent federal appeals court decision in the mother of all yield-spread premium cases, Culpepper v. Irwin Mortgage Corp., may not be the “final nail in the coffin” that the defense attorney in the case had hoped for. Plaintiff attorneys have petitioned the U.S. Court...
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The mortgage industry may soon find itself going head-to-head with Congress over anti-predatory lending legislation, as new bills have been introduced and a House resolution passed calling for tougher enforcement against abusive subprime lending practices...
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Subprime lender Fremont Investment & Loan has agreed to delay foreclosure proceedings against Massachusetts homeowners for 90 days pending an investigation by the state attorney general of the company’s lending practices. Under a recent agreement with...
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Fannie Mae has provided guidance for lenders on how to assess collateral value in a declining market to avoid potential losses should the mortgage loan subsequently default. As a result of the subprime market crisis, certain markets have seen property values...
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Maine. The state legislature has passed legislation whittling down the number of... Oregon. On July 1, a new law took effect establishing usury caps for loans made... Louisiana. Lawmakers approved a legislative package that, among other things...
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Department of Housing and Urban Development: Foreclosure Prevention Tips. HUD has 10 tips for homeowners facing... Office of the Comptroller of the Currency: Consumer Complaint Sharing Pact. The OCC and the Commonwealth of... New Publications. The OCC has released two new...
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Speculation is rife among mortgage industry participants that the Department of the Treasury might be considering merging the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Office of Thrift Supervision as part of a plan to modernize the nation’s financial...
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