As previously reported, the bill signed into law by President Biden on June 17, 2021 to create the Juneteenth National Independence Day actually results in an important change under the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) and...more
The CFPB recently entered into a consent order with Nationwide Equities Corporation (Nationwide), which the CFPB refers to as a mortgage broker and mortgage lender that primarily provides jumbo reverse mortgage loans and Home...more
The CFPB recently issued a final rule delaying the mandatory compliance date for the new general qualified mortgage (QM) rule based on an annual percentage rate (APR) limit from July 1, 2021 to October 1, 2022. The final rule...more
The CFPB recently announced the public availability of calendar year 2020 residential mortgage loan application data reported under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA). ...more
The New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) recently announced that it has entered into an agreement with Hunt Mortgage, a licensed mortgage banker, to address the DFS’s findings that there was a “demonstrable lack of...more
The New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) recently announced that it has entered into an agreement with Hunt Mortgage, a licensed mortgage banker, to address the DFS’s findings that there was a “demonstrable lack of...more
The CFPB recently filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut alleging violations of various federal consumer protection laws by 1st Alliance Lending, LLC (1st Alliance), a former...more
The CFPB recently announced that the platform for the submission of Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data collected in 2020 is now available for the submission of the data. The platform may be accessed here. HMDA data for...more
The CFPB recently released a regulatory and reporting overview reference chart for Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data to be collected in 2021. ...more
The CFPB recently issued Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) addressing the referral fee and fee splitting prohibitions under Section 8 of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA). The CFPB also rescinded its...more
As previously reported, the federal banking agencies announced an interim final rule in April 2020 due to COVID-19 that allows for appraisals and evaluations of homes and other real property to be obtained up to 120 days...more
9/30/2020
/ Appraisal ,
Banking Regulators ,
Banking Sector ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
FDIC ,
Federal Reserve ,
Final Rules ,
Interim Final Rules (IFR) ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
National Housing Act (NHA) ,
Real Estate Market ,
Real Estate Transactions
On September 14, 2020, the CFPB announced a consent order against ClearPath Lending, Inc. (ClearPath), which includes a civil money penalty of $625,000 and requirements to prevent future violations. The consent order...more
In Mortgagee Letter 2020-30 dated September 10, 2020, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) provides guidance on the underwriting of applicants for FHA insured mortgage loans who were granted a previous...more
On August 27, 2020, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced the extension of the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac moratorium on single-family foreclosures from August 31, 2020, to December 31, 2020. The moratorium on...more
8/28/2020
/ Department of Veterans Affairs ,
Eviction ,
Fannie Mae ,
Federal Housing Administration (FHA) ,
FHA Loans ,
FHFA ,
Foreclosure ,
Freddie Mac ,
HUD ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Mortgages
On August 21, 2020, the CFPB announced the issuance of a consent order against Go Direct Lenders, Inc. (Go Direct). This follows consent orders discussed in a previous blog post, that were announced on July 24, 2020 against...more
8/28/2020
/ Advertising ,
Consent Order ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Dodd-Frank ,
IRS ,
MAP Rule ,
Misleading Statements ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Regulation Z ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
On August 21, 2020, the CFPB announced the release of the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) Filing Instruction Guide (FIG) for data that must be collected in 2021 and reported in 2022. The CFPB also announced the release of...more
On July 24, 2020, the CFPB announced the issuance of consent orders against Sovereign Lending Group, Inc. (Sovereign) and Prime Choice Funding, Inc. (Prime Choice). The CFPB indicated in their announcement that these consent...more
8/13/2020
/ Advertising ,
Consent Order ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Dodd-Frank ,
MAP Rule ,
Misleading Statements ,
Misrepresentation ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Regulation Z ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
The CFPB recently updated its Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) FAQs to add two items regarding multiple data points....more
As previously reported, the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (Growth Act), also known as S.2155, directs the CFPB to implement an exemption from the mandatory escrow account requirement for...more
7/7/2020
/ Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Credit Unions ,
Creditors ,
Economic Growth Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act ,
Escrow Accounts ,
Exemptions ,
High-Priced Mortgage Loans (HPML) ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Regulation Z ,
Truth in Lending Act (TILA)
In Mortgagee Letter 2020-20 dated June 29, 2020, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced the extension of FHA temporary guidance regarding employment verification and appraisals due to COVID-19. The...more
The CFPB recently proposed a temporary extension of the qualified mortgage (QM) that is based on a loan being eligible for sale to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac (often referred to as the “GSE Patch”). ...more
6/29/2020
/ Ability-to-Repay ,
Annual Percentage Rate (APR) ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Fannie Mae ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Freddie Mac ,
GSE ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Mortgages ,
Qualified Mortgage Rule
On June 18, 2020, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in Circular 26-20-23 (dated June 17, 2020) extended the eviction moratorium for properties secured by VA guaranteed loans from June 30, 2020 to August 31....more
On June 16, 2020, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced the availability of COVID-19 resources for mortgage loan borrowers....more
On May 20, 2020, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) issued Loan Guaranty Circular 26-20-19, dated May 19, 2020, to provide additional guidance to lenders regarding VA policies during the COVID-19 emergency....more
In a DU Validation Servicing Release Note dated May 1, 2020, Fannie Mae announced the temporary suspension of employment validation within the Desktop Underwriter® (DU®) validation service “in response to COVID-19’s...more