News By Edition

Small tokens of appreciation from a title agent to a partner, affiliate or client are typical all year long.

But around the holidays, some people are tempted to ignore common sense when it comes to remaining RESPA-compliant.

Mayer Brown LLC partner Phil Schulman told RESPA News that compliance means fighting temptations, whether it’s a Thursday in August or it’s Christmas morning. Read on for more of his tips.

The Structured Finance Association has released new guidance designed to create a uniform testing standard as a result of a consistent TRID interpretation of prevailing legal precedent and informal written guidance and webinars offered by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau across third-party review firms.

The TRID Grid 3.0 guidance is expected to mean residential mortgage-backed securities will be more focused on material TRID compliance errors.

Fitch Ratings said the new guidance “is particularly helpful.” Read on for more from Fitch.

While a judge on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote two opinions declaring the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is unconstitutionally structured.

Therefore, he can’t be impartial when the high court hears oral arguments in a different case that will decide the constitutionality of the agency, consumer advocacy groups say.

Read on to learn what Demand Justice, Demand Progress Education Fund, Revolving Door Project and Allied Progress are arguing.

The House of Representatives has passed a bill that provides a total of $49.1 billion for the Department of Housing and Urban Development. 

That amount is $4.9 billion above the 2019 enacted level and $12.4 billion above President Donald Trump’s budget request. 

The bill also provides for $126 million to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and $331 million for the Federal Trade Commission. Read on for more details about the appropriations.

The House of Representatives has passed a spending package funding the federal government for fiscal year 2020 that provides authority for the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) through Sept. 30.

The bill also extends several tax provisions important to real estate markets and reauthorizes the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) for seven years.

Read on for details about the package, plus reaction from National Association of Realtors President Vince Malta.

A Michigan borrower claimed his lender required him to put his residential property into a separate commercial entity to circumvent the requirements of RESPA, TILA and the Dodd-Frank Act.

The lender then allegedly failed to properly respond to a notice of error (NOE) regarding an erroneous amount of unpaid property taxes after initiating foreclosure proceedings when the borrower allegedly defaulted on two separate mortgages.

The lender argued the borrower’s RESPA claim should be dismissed because the loan was commercial, not residential.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has released a new report examining the differences between large and small mortgage servicers.

The report explores the role servicers of different sizes play in the mortgage market where size is defined by the number of loans serviced.

Read on for details from the CFPB’s findings, which it said will help the bureau better understand developments in the mortgage market and the effects of its regulations.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has issued its latest timeline to issue rules since Director Kathy Kraninger embarked on a listening tour early in 2019.

The bureau’s Fall 2019 Unified Agenda lists the regulatory matters that the bureau reasonably anticipates having under consideration from now until Sept. 30.

Read on to see what the bureau’s priorities are in the coming months.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Kathy Kraninger celebrated her one-year anniversary leading the agency Dec. 11.

In recognition of the time, the bureau released information of activities which have taken place under Kraninger’s watch over the past 12 months.

Read on for reaction from Kraninger and some of the highlights of her first year on the job.

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) has joined with the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) and the Asociacion Mexicana de Profesionales Inmobiliarios (AMPI) in support of the U.S., Mexico and Canada (USMCA) Trade Agreement.

In a recent letter to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, the trade groups said the agreement would have a positive economic impact on the real estate sector across the continent.

Read on for details from the letter.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has allocated nearly $200 million in grant awards to 52 Native American tribes and tribally designated housing entities (TDHEs) for new housing construction, housing rehabilitation and critical infrastructure projects.

HUD announced the grants during the 2019 National American Indian Housing Council (NAIHC) Legal Symposium in Las Vegas.

Read on for more details on the grants, which were awarded nationwide.

An Orange County, Calif. law firm appealing a civil investigative demand is arguing that the U.S. Supreme Court does not need to rule on the constitutionality remedy for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to invalidate its action against the company.

Seila Law filed its first brief with the Supreme Court this week in its case, which is scheduled to be heard in March 2020.

Read on to see why Seila Law disagrees with the Department of Justice’s stance that 12 U.S.C. §5491(c)(3) should be severed from the Dodd-Frank Act if the CFPB is found unconstitutional on the basis of the separation of powers.

In a final 20-5 vote, the Senate Banking Committee approved the nomination of Brian Montgomery to be the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) deputy secretary.

The nomination now will go before the full Senate for consideration.

Read on for more details on Montgomery, who has served as HUD’s acting deputy secretary since January.

Five federal financial regulatory agencies have issued a joint statement on the use of alternative data in underwriting by banks, credit unions and non-bank financial firms.

The statement from the Federal Reserve, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the National Credit Union Administration notes the benefits that using alternative data may provide to consumers.

Read on for more from the agencies.

The industry received encouraging news Wednesday at the National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) first Real Estate Forecast Summit.

A group of top economists predicted a less than 1 in 3 chance – or 29 percent – of a recession in 2020.

Read on to see the consensus on the future of real estate prices, 30-year fixed mortgage rates and annual median home prices.

Mortgage lenders know the importance of vision statements to drive a better borrower experience. The challenge however, is getting that vision to catch fire within the whole organization. Mortgage advisory firm Stratmor Group has tips on how lenders can translate a customer experience vision from leadership to loan originator. Read on for suggestions from Stratmor MortgageSAT Director Mike Seminari on how lenders can ensure their customer experience vision is embraced.

After a strong response to the October Research 20th Anniversary Sweepstakes, we now reveal the winners, including the winner of our complimentary registration to the 2020 National Settlement Services Summit. Read on for more.

Real estate advertising used to be so simple. 

You’d buy a newspaper ad based on the number of column inches, a radio or TV spot based on the spot’s length or an outdoor billboard based on the size. 

But the digital world has made things a lot more complicated. Read on to see what MLinc Solutions, an independent provider of services agreement valuations, advises on how digital advertising drives costs and how you can remain compliant.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is asking members of the public to help identify regulations and practices that unnecessarily impede housing supply.

HUD has published a request for information (RFI) seeking public comment on laws, regulations, land use requirements and administrative practices that artificially raise the costs of affordable housing development and contribute to shortages in America’s housing supply.

Read on to see how you can make your voice heard.

A California couple accused their servicer of failing to provide adequate written notice that their loan modification application was incomplete and then not giving them an opportunity to appeal prior to closing the review.

Their servicer argued the RESPA claim failed because it was a second modification request and because the application was incomplete.

Read on to find out why a judge denied the bank’s motion to dismiss the RESPA claims.

Four federal agencies in conjunction with the state bank regulators issued a joint statement clarifying the relevant requirements for banks providing services to hemp-related businesses.

The statement affects bank customers engaged in the growth or cultivation of hemp in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.

Read on for details from the statement issued by the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Conference of State Bank Supervisors.

Democratic members of the House Financial Services Committee are urging the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) not to make changes to the disparate impact standard.

The lawmakers wrote HUD Secretary Ben Carson that the agency’s proposed changes would make it harder for everyday Americans who find themselves victims of housing discrimination to get justice. Read on for more from the letter, signed by every Democratic committee member.

A class action lawsuit alleging a mortgage servicer charged borrowers for kickbacks it made to a title company in U.S. postage stamps is allowed to proceed in a Maryland federal court. 

As a result of the scheme, the plaintiffs said they were overcharged for settlement services, and the payment of kickbacks was a patent violation of RESPA. 

Read on for details on the judge’s opinion denying the servicer’s motion to dismiss.

Oral arguments have been scheduled in a case that will decide the constitutionality of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

Seila Law, an Orange County, Calif. law firm appealing a civil investigative demand (CID) request, had petitioned the Supreme Court to rule on a lawsuit that makes an argument for abolishing the bureau and every regulation enacted by it.

Read on for the latest details on the case.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is making more of an effort to provide financial services providers with clear rules of the road to encourage innovation and ease regulatory fears, agency Director Kathy Kraninger said.

Kraninger was the keynote speaker Nov. 21 at The Clearing House + Bank Policy Institute’s (BPI) annual conference in New York City.

She provided attendees an update on its three innovation policies and discussed the latest in supervision and enforcement.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has filed a lawsuit against an employment background screening company.

The bureau accused the company of failing to employ reasonable procedures to ensure the maximum possible accuracy of information in its consumer reports.

Read on for details of the case, which recently was settled in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, including how much the company has agreed to pay affected consumers.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has filed proposed settlements against a military travel lender accused of violating the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) by misrepresenting the true cost of credit.

The proposed settlements against the Kentucky-based lender quoted falsely low monthly interest rates over the telephone to consumers and failed to provide consumers required information about the terms of credit, among other violations.

Read on for details about the settlement.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has awarded $131.3 million to 325 local public housing authorities across the country to provide affordable housing to 15,363 additional non-elderly persons with disabilities.

HUD Secretary Ben Carson made the national announcement during a recent visit to Detroit.

Read on for details about the assistance program.

Butler Snow is expanding the firm’s Baton Rouge, La., office as the attorneys of Kantrow Spaht Weaver & Blitzer (APLC) will join the firm on Jan. 1, bringing the total number of attorneys locally to 24 and more than 385 attorneys firm-wide.

Wolters Kluwer has been named 2019 Category Winner for both its regulatory reporting as well as liquidity risk capabilities in the Chartis RiskTech100 report, an annual, comprehensive study of the world’s leading risk and compliance technology companies. Wolters Kluwer moved up six places from the 2018 report, finishing No. 8 overall.

For the second time in less than two years, the Senate Banking Committee is considering whether to approve the nomination of Brian Montgomery to be a top executive at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

If Montgomery, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) commissioner, is favorably recommended as HUD deputy secretary, the nomination will go before the full Senate for consideration.

Read on for reaction from Democratic and Republican committee members and the Mortgage Bankers Association.

With the renewed popularity in marketing services agreements and other strategic alliances between real estate service providers, October Research, LLC put together a two-part webinar series with two industry experts to shed light on whether a certain business opportunity is legal.