Unlocking the Secrets of Reverse Mortgages — The Consumer Finance Podcast
Consumer Finance Monitor Podcast Episode: CFPB’s Proposed Mortgage Servicing Rule Amendments: Understanding the Impact on Loss Mitigation, Foreclosure, and Language Access
An Inside Look as a Juror - FCRA Focus Podcast
On May 16, the CFPB published a Federal Register notice withdrawing its COVID-19-era mortgage servicing protections for borrowers. The CFPB identified two reasons for rescinding this measure: first, the rule was intended to...more
On May 15, 2025, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) filed an interim final rule in the Federal Register that will rescind its prior 2021 COVID-19 mortgage servicing final rule. The interim final rule is set for...more
Massachusetts AG Andrea Campbell settled with Franklin Credit Management Corporation (Franklin Credit), to resolve allegations that the mortgage servicer violated the commonwealth’s foreclosure-prevention law and debt...more
On August 21, 2024, the CFPB issued a Consent Order against the Company citing alleged failure to provide accurate information about loss mitigation options and improper handling of loan modifications. The Consent Order...more
In an April 16 unpublished opinion, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel’s earlier decision finding that a mortgage lender not licensed in California violated the state’s usury law...more
The Supreme Court of California handed down a big win to mortgage lenders and servicers on March 7, 2022, when it issued a decision in Sheen v. Wells Fargo Bank, National Association et al., No. S258019, 2022 WL 664722, at *1...more
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) announced post-COVID-19 mortgage servicing rules that went into effect August 31, 2021 (“Rules”). The Rules are designed to protect borrowers from “avoidable foreclosures” and...more
On April 5, 2021, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a press release and proposed rule requesting public comment on proposed amendments to Regulation X which “would establish a temporary COVID-19 emergency...more
After an ill-fated multi-year effort to develop a self-driving car, Uber (which spent “hundreds of millions of dollars” on the project) is “handing the autonomous vehicle effort over to a Silicon Valley start-up”—Aurora—along...more
On page 8 of the September–October issue, we discussed the COVID-19 forbearance landscape and related compliance challenges for mortgage servicers. In this article, we unpack the post-forbearance world, focusing on the...more
In Loan Guaranty Circular 26-20-33, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs temporarily authorized the use of deferments as a loss mitigation option for borrowers with a COVID-19 forbearance....more
On June 17, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed one of the most far-reaching COVID-19 mortgage assistance state programs yet into law. Affected servicers and lenders will soon need to decide whether they should find a way to...more
On March 19, 2020, the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) issued guidance to urge all regulated and exempt mortgage servicers to alleviate the adverse impact caused by COVID-19 on mortgage brokers who...more
Real Property Update - Foreclosure / Notice: Mail log sufficient evidence to establish mailing of notice to borrower of default and possibility of foreclosure – Stacknik v. U.S. Bank, N.A., No. 2D18-2156 (Fla. 2d DCA Nov....more
Welcome to Part IV of our series on servicing discharged mortgage debt. This part will discuss modifying a borrower’s loan post-discharge. (If you missed Part I, Part II or Part III, go ahead and catch up.) Part III discussed...more
Part III: Modifications Post-Discharge - Welcome to Part III of our series on the servicing of discharged mortgage debt. This part will discuss modifying a borrower’s loan after a discharge. (If you missed Part I or Part...more
Bankruptcy courts lack the power to impose serious punitive sanctions, a federal district judge ruled recently in PHH Mortgage Corporation v. Sensenich, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 207801 (D. Vt. Dec. 18, 2018). Judge Geoffrey...more
On February 17, 2017, the California Department of Business Oversight (California DBO) announced that it had entered in to a $225 million consent order with a national mortgage servicer following an investigation by a...more
Back in the summer of 2015, we published a popular post on “Qualified Written Requests,” or QWRs, which are written requests by borrowers under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (“RESPA”) for information relating to...more
In a recent decision, the Eleventh Circuit (Lage v. Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC, No. 15-15558 (11th Cir. Oct. 7, 2016)) held that a loan servicer is not required to evaluate a completed loan modification application if that...more
A California man that operated as a high-level sales executive for a fraudulent residential mortgage-loan modification scheme will now spend several years in jail. From 2009 to 2016, Mehdi Moarefian (aka Michael Miller)...more
On August 2, 2016, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) published a new guidance document titled CFPB’s Principles for the Future of Loss Mitigation (the “Guidance”), which outlines a recommended framework for...more
Looking forward to a post-financial crisis and post-HAMP mortgage marketplace, the CFPB has issued a document outlining principles intended to “provide a framework for discussion about the future of loss mitigation.” The...more
In an unmistakable warning shot to mortgage servicers, the CFPB recently issued a “Mortgage Servicing Special Edition” of its Supervisory Highlights. The CFPB also updated portions of its Mortgage Servicing Examination...more