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Inside the CFPB

August 15, 2011

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Rebuttable Presumption or Safe Harbor?

One of the most important issues for mortgage lenders and homebuyers alike in the whole qualified mortgage/risk-retention/ability-to-repay debate is how much legal liability lenders will have over the mortgages they originate in the Dodd-Frank era. For policymakers, one of the biggest decisions they will have to make to bring certainty to that question is which legal standard to impose, a “rebuttable presumption” or a “safe harbor.” … Read More

CFPB Mortgage Disclosures Continue Apace

The new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is moving rapidly along with its integrated mortgage disclosure project, issuing a third iteration of disclosure prototypes and closing off the comment period on them in just the past two weeks since the last issue of Inside Regulatory Strategies went to press. This time around, the CFPB issued another pair of disclosures, named “Camellia” and “Azalea,” which would be used for mortgages with a balloon payment at the… Read More

National Servicing Standards Must Address Market Uncertainty

Policymakers interested in pushing national mortgage servicing standards are right to make sure that homeowners who were harmed by abusive industry practices are compensated. However, there is still a tremendous amount of uncertainty in the housing and housing finance markets, and any servicing standards that are developed must address that if the weights that hold the markets back are to be cut lose and private capital comes back in full force, a top industry… Read More

AARP Brings Suit Against Wells, Fannie Mae in HECM Dispute

AARP and two law firms recently filed a class action in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in San Francisco against Wells Fargo and Fannie Mae on behalf of reverse mortgage borrowers and their survivors in an attempt to keep Home Equity Conversion Mortgage foreclosures and evictions in the state at bay. … Read More

FHFA Not Required to Reveal GSEs’ Political Contributions

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has ruled against the conservative watch dog group, Judicial Watch, and in favor of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, determining that the FHFA is not required to release documentation revealing the extent to which Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may have contributed to political campaigns. … Read More

Third Circuit Bars FCRA Suit In Case Against Countrywide

In Simms Parris v. Countrywide Financial Corp., the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed the lower court’s dismissal of a consumer claim against Countrywide, ruling that the homeowner, Simms Parris, had no direct cause of action under the Fair Credit Reporting Act because she did not first notify the credit reporting agency of her dispute with the lender. … Read More

Utah Appeals Court Affirms MERS’ Trust Deed Enforcement

In Commonwealth Property Advocates, LLC v. Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc.; CitiMortgage, Inc.; et al., the Utah Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court determination that MERS has the right to enforce deeds of trust regardless of whether the underlying debt has been sold and securitized. In this case, the original borrower had transferred her interest in the property to a third-party entity, Commonwealth Property Advocates, which litigated questioning MERS’ authority under the trust… Read More

Regulators Want Input on Disposition of REO Properties

The Federal Housing Finance Agency, the U.S. Treasury and the Department of Housing and Urban Development have issued a Request For Information, seeking the industry’s insight on new options for selling current and future single-family real estate owned properties held by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA. The RFI will delve into alternatives for maximizing value to taxpayers while boosting private investment in the housing market, including ways that will support rental and affordable… Read More

State Roundup

Massachusetts. State Attorney General Martha Coakley has secured a $124.8 million settlement with Sand Canyon – which had done business as Option One in a previous life – that closes the book on claims of unfair and discriminatory lending practices by the former subprime lender. Under the terms of the settlement, the company must instruct its servicer, American Home Mortgage Servicing, to make principal reduction modifications for delinquent Option One borrowers. American Home acquired… Read More

Federal Roundup

Department of Housing and Urban Development Loan limit guidance. The Department of Housing and Urban Development plans to release guidance by the end of August that will detail which loans are eligible for the higher conforming loan limits, along with additional requirements for using the higher loan limits, according to Inside FHA Lending, an affiliated publication. … Read More

Worth Noting

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has launched a new web-based mapping tool displaying the location of all foreclosed properties being held by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the FHA, which is almost half of all real estate-owned or REO properties in the U.S. HUD said its REO Portal is intended to help local communities, homebuyers and responsible investors to acquire these properties and accelerate efforts to stabilize local housing markets. … Read More

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