The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau may have been more intensively involved in the 50-state servicer settlement discussions than it has publicly let on, and has tried to keep at least some of its contact with the state attorneys general secret, emails from several state agencies seem to suggest... Read More

Federal banking regulators have the unenviable task of harmonizing two mortgage disclosure documents – one under the Truth in Lending Act and one under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act – for consumers who generally won’t read them and don’t fully understand them when they do. And mortgage lenders have the same kinds of stubborn obstacles to overcome if they’re going to be able to more effectively design and successfully market products consumers will respond… Read More

The Treasury Department announced that, beginning this month, it is withholding financial incentives for three top mortgage servicers, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo Bank, because their performance in the Obama administration’s Making Home Affordable Program was considered inadequate... Read More

The White House is reportedly considering nominating former banker Raj Date, a top deputy of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau interim head Elizabeth Warren, to be the first formal director of the nascent agency... Read More

Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Company chalked one up in the win column in some litigation it’s having with Bank of America over MGIC’s decision to rescind flow-policy coverage of 1,400 or so mortgages that were originated by Countrywide between 2006 and 2008... Read More

Former Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Treasurer Desiree Brown, and former TBW President Raymond Bowman, have been sentenced to 72 months and 30 months in prison, respectively, for their roles in a fraud scheme totaling more than $2.9 billion that contributed to the failures of TBW and Colonial Bank... Read More

Jurisprudence related to Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems continues to evolve, but a majority of courts are validating the role MERS plays in the nation’s mortgage finance system, according to a new analysis of recent cases by law firm K&L Gates... Read More

There’s probably not “a secret sauce” that banks can use to juice up their Community Reinvestment Act rating, but a deliberate, cohesive strategy and “complete buy in” from CEO to receptionist will go a long way, bank and government officials said recently... Read More

The industry’s foreclosure debacle – including the validity of the transfer of mortgages and the role of MERS – has raised a number of critical public policy questions that industry leaders and policymakers will need to resolve if the market and the industry are to return to a fully functioning form once again, a leading industry legal expert told mortgage compliance officials recently... Read More

Maine. Governor Paul LePage has signed LD 290, legislation implementing the Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act of 2008; MORE.. Read More

Federal Roundup Federal Reserve Board TILA/HOEPA fee-based triggers. The total points and fees payable by borrowers utilizing certain closed-end home mortgages at or before closing that trigger additional disclosure requirements under the Truth in Lending Act and the Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act have been raised to $611 or 8 percent of the total loan amount, the Federal Reserve Board announced in the June 20, 2011, Federal Register. The effective date is Jan. 1, 2012... MORE Read More

PMI Mortgage Insurance Co. has launched its MODEL servicer program; the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act is an epic financial services law of unprecedented scale; American voters strongly support pro-housing politicians; MORE... Read More

Recent CRA Ratings… Read More