CFPB Director Richard Cordray showed no sign of backing down when it comes to the bureau’s expanded scrutiny of and skepticism toward marketing services agreements as possible violations of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act. Speaking at the recent Mortgage Bankers Association’s annual convention in San Diego, the director noted that his agency concluded from its enforcement experience that MSAs necessarily involve substantial legal and compliance risk for the parties to the agreements – whether they are lenders, brokers, title companies or real estate professionals. “We believe those risks are greater and less capable of being controlled by careful monitoring than mortgage industry participants may have recognized in the past,” said the director. “MSAs appear to create opportunities for parties to ...