|
FDIC finds New Orleans bank paid illegal kickbacks, referral fees
Posted Date: Monday, April 18, 2022
A New Orleans lending operation paid “illegal kickbacks” to a local real estate brokerage by charging artificially high rents for office space, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC). In addition, it paid “illegal referral fees” through a lead generation service, the FDIC said in its most recent Community Reinvestment Act Performance Evaluation of the bank. Sterbcow Law Group’s Managing Attorney Marx Sterbcow offered advice to save other lenders and brokerages from being on the wrong side of the headlines. Read on for details.
|
|
|
CFPB files deceptive-marketing lawsuit against TransUnion
Posted Date: Wednesday, April 13, 2022
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has filed a lawsuit against TransUnion, two of its subsidiaries and a longtime executive for allegedly violating a 2017 law enforcement order issued to stop the company from engaging in deceptive marketing regarding its credit scores and other products. The lawsuit accuses the company of flouting a formal law enforcement order, deceiving customers through digital dark patterns and cheating customers through the marketing and sale of its credit-related products.
|
|
|
CFPB: Homebuyers should consider climate risk
Posted Date: Wednesday, April 13, 2022
Homebuyers typically consider factors like price, location, commute time and schools. It’s now necessary to add climate risk to that homebuying checklist, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Although every property faces climate risks, the bureau said formerly redlined areas are disproportionately affected by heat and flood risk.
|
|
|
HUD to hold vacant note sale
Posted Date: Wednesday, April 13, 2022
The Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD’s) Office of Asset Sales will conduct a competitive bid, HUD-held, vacant note sale this summer. The June 8 sale will include approximately 1,450 reverse mortgage notes secured by properties where the borrower is deceased and not survived by a non-borrowing spouse. On Sept. 1, the Biden administration announced that more HUD-owned properties should be returned to future owner-occupancy.
|
|
|
NAR studies homebuying obstacles
Posted Date: Wednesday, April 13, 2022
The lack of affordable homes is the top obstacle holding back potential homebuyers of all races, but other obstacles to homeownership varied by race/ethnicity, according to a new report by the National Association of Realtors. Read on to learn the other major obstacles potential home buyers face.
|
|
|
HUD announces $3 billion to build climate resilience
Posted Date: Wednesday, April 13, 2022
The Department of Housing and Urban Development has allocated nearly $3 billion in Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery funds to help communities recover from disasters and build inclusive resilience to climate change.
|
|
|
NAR asks Supreme Court to intervene in lawsuit
Posted Date: Monday, April 11, 2022
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) has filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in a copyright dispute over floor plans. “The Eighth Circuit’s decision not only puts countless consumers at risk of costly, burdensome litigation for making a floor plan of their own home, but it also strains a key sector of America’s economy and threatens a critical tool of transparency for potential home buyers,” NAR General Counsel Katie Johnson wrote in the brief.
|
|
|
CFPB proposes new rule to halt negative credit reporting for human trafficking survivors
Posted Date: Monday, April 11, 2022
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is proposing a rule to protect survivors of human trafficking by preventing consumer reporting agencies from including negative information resulting from abuse. The notice of proposed rulemaking was published in the Federal Register on April 8. The public comment period will close on May 9, 2022.
|
|
|
CFPB monitoring payday loan industry for abuses
Posted Date: Monday, April 11, 2022
A new report by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau shows few payday loan borrowers are benefiting from no-cost extended payment plans, which are required to be offered to borrowers in the majority of states that do not prohibit payday lending. Instead of using the payment plans, borrowers continue to pay for costly loan rollovers.
|
|
|
HUD allocates millions to fight housing discrimination
Posted Date: Monday, April 11, 2022
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is making an additional $3.2 million in American Rescue Plan funding available to help HUD’s Fair Housing Initiatives Program agencies combat housing discrimination related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
|
|
|
More defendants added to Hawaii Fair Housing Act suit
Posted Date: Monday, April 11, 2022
The Department of Justice has filed an amended complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii, alleging 14 entities designed and constructed five condominium and apartment complexes without accessible features required by the Fair Housing Act.
|
|
|
CFPB: Pending lawsuit does not take away borrower’s right to servicer response
Posted Date: Thursday, April 7, 2022
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has filed a friend-of-the-court brief in a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals case in which two mortgage borrowers sued their loan servicer for refusing to answer their questions about their loans. The servicer argued it is not required to answer these written questions from its borrowers due to an ongoing foreclosure suit involving the plaintiffs. Read on for the latest in the case.
|
|
|
CFPB releases findings on internal discrimination, retaliation actions
Posted Date: Thursday, April 7, 2022
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has released a report detailing internal disciplinary actions regarding discrimination, retaliation and harassment. The bureau found the number of new equal employment opportunity program complaints within the CFPB increased slightly in 2021. Congress passed the No Fear Act in 2002 to hold federal agencies more accountable for violations of antidiscrimination and whistleblower protection laws.
|
|
|
Milwaukee rooming-house owner charged with sexual, disability discrimination
Posted Date: Thursday, April 7, 2022
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has charged the owner and manager of a Milwaukee rooming house with discriminating against a former male tenant because of his sexual orientation and disability. Last year, HUD clarified sex discrimination under the Fair Housing Act includes discrimination because of sexual orientation or gender identity.
|
|
|
General counsel's compliance role expanding
Posted Date: Thursday, April 7, 2022
Company boards are expecting more from general counsels than ever, according to a new study by legal and compliance executive search firm BarkerGilmore.
|
|
|
Pending home sales dwindle
Posted Date: Thursday, April 7, 2022
Pending home sales slipped in February, marking four consecutive months of transaction decreases, according to the National Association of Realtors. Three of the four major U.S. regions saw contract signings fall month-over-month, with the Northeast being the only area reporting an increase. All four regions registered a decline in year-over-year contract activity.
|
|
|
RESPRO among industry groups opposing anti-arbitration clause bill
Posted Date: Monday, April 4, 2022
More than 100 national and state trade associations have asked the House of Representatives to oppose a proposed law that would effectively ban arbitration provisions in private contracts. RESPRO, the American Bankers Association, the Consumer Bankers Association, the National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions and the National Association of Home Builders were among the groups which recently wrote a letter to House members criticizing the “Forced Arbitration Injustice Repeal” Act.
|
|
|
DOJ files statement of interest in LEP case
Posted Date: Monday, April 4, 2022
The Department of Justice has filed a statement of interest in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York explaining how policies that exclude rental housing applicants because they do not speak English may violate the Fair Housing Act. The statement was filed in a lawsuit alleging the defendants refused to rent apartments to applicants who are limited English proficient unless someone who speaks and reads English lives in the unit.
|
|
|
CFPB sanctions student loan servicer
Posted Date: Monday, April 4, 2022
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has sanctioned Edfinancial Services, a Knoxville, Tenn.-based student-loan servicer, for allegedly making deceptive statements to student-loan borrowers and misrepresenting their forgiveness and repayment options to them. Read on for details of the sanctions.
|
|
|
New Jersey begins enforcing Fair Chance in Housing Act
Posted Date: Monday, April 4, 2022
The New Jersey Division on Civil Rights has begun its proactive enforcement of the Fair Chance in Housing Act with cease-and-desist letters to housing providers whose advertisements appear to unlawfully discriminate against applicants based on their prior involvement with the criminal justice system. The act—which took effect on Jan. 1 —expands opportunities for people with criminal records to find safe, affordable housing by restricting when and how housing providers can consider applicants’ criminal histories.
|
|
|
NAR: More millennials buying homes
Posted Date: Monday, April 4, 2022
The share of millennial home buyers increased significantly over the past year. They are also the most likely generation to use the internet to find the home they purchase and most likely to use a real estate agent, according to a new study from the National Association of Realtors. The annual report examines the similarities and differences of recent home buyers and sellers across generations.
|
|
|
HUD commemorates National Fair Housing Month
Posted Date: Monday, April 4, 2022
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has kicked off Fair Housing Month 2022. HUD said this year’s theme, “Fair Housing: More Than Just Words,” underscores the Biden administration’s commitment and progress toward advancing equity in housing and securing equal access to housing opportunities for all.
|
|
|
CFPB extends public comment deadline on ‘junk fees’
Posted Date: Monday, March 28, 2022
Due to enormous interest, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has extended the deadline for the public to share input and stories on their experiences with junk fees. The CFPB said it hopes to hear from more stakeholders–including consumers and small business owners–from across the financial marketplace about their experiences with fees associated with financial products and services, including mortgage application fees and closing costs like title insurance.
|
|
|
Ohio man sues mortgage owner, servicer for alleged TRID violations
Posted Date: Monday, March 28, 2022
An Ohio man filed a lawsuit claiming alleged defects in the servicing of his loan violated TRID. The borrower alleged the defendants failed to properly apply his mortgage payments or respond to his notice of errors, and misrepresentations and omissions in periodic mortgage statements they sent him violated RESPA and TILA. The servicer filed a motion for summary judgment, arguing it did not misapply any payments.
|
|
|
FinCEN issues new alert involving Russian oligarchs
Posted Date: Monday, March 28, 2022
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network has issued a second alert on the importance of identifying and quickly reporting suspicious transactions involving real estate, luxury goods, and other high-value assets of sanctioned Russian elites and their family members.
|
|
|
California Consumer Financial Protection Law turns 1
Posted Date: Monday, March 28, 2022
A year after implementing one of the most expansive consumer protection laws in the country, the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation announced it has collected close to $1 million in restitution for consumers, fielded hundreds of additional complaints related to the law, and launched more than 100 investigations using its expanded authority under the California Consumer Financial Protection Law.
|
|
|
2021 HMDA mortgage lending data available
Posted Date: Monday, March 28, 2022
The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) Modified Loan Application Register data for 2021 is now available on the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council’s HMDA Platform for approximately 4,316 HMDA filers. The published data contain loan-level information filed by financial institutions, modified to protect consumer privacy.
|
|
|
11th Circuit: ‘Unavailable’ info does not mean ‘unobtainable’
Posted Date: Thursday, March 24, 2022
A Georgia borrower filed a purported class action lawsuit against her servicer, claiming the company violated RESPA by refusing to provide a complete account history after receiving multiple qualified written requests. The servicer argued its responses did provide a breakdown of all charges and credits applied to her mortgage account, and that the borrower suffered no actual or statutory damages as a result of her allegations. Read on for the latest in the case.
|
|
|
RESPRO holding spring conference in Las Vegas
Posted Date: Thursday, March 24, 2022
Lady luck will make a special appearance at RESPRO’s 2022 spring conference in Las Vegas. The three-day event – which kicks off the evening of March 30 with a welcome reception – will highlight female leadership in the opening session, and why such a presence is imperative to the closing and title industry. Read on for details on other sessions.
|
|
|
CFPB issues guidance on consumer reviews
Posted Date: Thursday, March 24, 2022
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has issued policy guidance regarding potentially illegal practices related to consumer reviews. The bureau said it seeks to ensure customers can write reviews, particularly ones posted online, about financial products and services that accurately reflect their opinions and experiences.
|
|
|
FinCEN issues $140 million penalty against bank
Posted Date: Thursday, March 24, 2022
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network has assessed a $140 million civil money penalty against USAA Federal Savings Bank for willful violations of the Bank Secrecy Act. Read on for details.
|
|
|
|
NAHREP report examines Latino homeownership
Posted Date: Thursday, March 24, 2022
The National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP) released the 12th publication of its annual State of Hispanic Homeownership Report during its National Convention & Housing Policy Summit in Washington D.C. In 2021, the Hispanic homeownership rate increased to 48.4 percent, consistent with the trendline of the past seven years—an average increase of nearly one percentage point every two years. This growth came despite a hostile real estate market.
|
|
|
Manufactured housing among new CFPB priorities
Posted Date: Friday, March 18, 2022
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has launched a new initiative to focus on financial issues facing rural America. The effort will initially focus on rural banking deserts, discriminatory and predatory agricultural credit, and manufactured housing.
|
|
|
CFPB: Discrimination can trigger UDAAP
Posted Date: Friday, March 18, 2022
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced it will target discriminatory conduct that violates the federal prohibition against unfair practices. The CFPB said it will closely examine financial institutions’ decision-making in advertising, pricing, and other areas to ensure that companies are appropriately testing for and eliminating illegal discrimination.
|
|
|
Servicer argues Arizona borrower’s QWR request overly broad
Posted Date: Friday, March 18, 2022
An Arizona borrower alleged her servicer failed to properly respond to a qualified written request. The servicer argued the complaint should be dismissed because the correspondence was overly broad. Read on for the latest in the case.
|
|
|
Existing-home sales fall
Posted Date: Friday, March 18, 2022
Existing-home sales declined in February, continuing a seesawing pattern of gains and declines over the last few months, according to the National Association of Realtors. Each of the four major U.S. regions saw sales fall on a month-over-month basis in February. Sales activity year-over-year was also down overall.
|
|
|
NAR working to eliminate misconceptions about VA loans
Posted Date: Friday, March 18, 2022
The National Association of Realtors (NAR), in collaboration with the Department of Veterans Affairs, has released a two-part educational video series on the VA Home Loan Guaranty Program, designed to help Realtors better serve veteran and active duty homebuyers achieving homeownership with VA loans.
|
|
|
CFPB ‘closely monitoring’ mortgage servicers
Posted Date: Thursday, March 17, 2022
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is strongly encouraging mortgage servicers to participate in the Homeowner Assistance Fund to help prevent avoidable foreclosures. The fund was established by the American Rescue Plan Act to help homeowners who have been financially impacted by the pandemic with certain housing-related costs. Read on for details from CFPB Assistant Director for Supervision Policy Lorelei Salas.
|
|
|
Ohio borrower sues servicer over escrow shortage
Posted Date: Thursday, March 17, 2022
An Ohio borrower accused her servicer of underpaying her property taxes for years – resulting in a severe escrow account shortfall – and then failing to properly respond to her notice of error requesting an investigation into the matter. The servicer asked that the case be dismissed, arguing it met its duty under RESPA to provide the borrower a statement of reasons as to why the company believed the account was correct.
|
|
|
Virginia issues ‘split settlements’ guidance
Posted Date: Wednesday, March 16, 2022
The Virginia Bureau of Insurance has published a list of frequently asked questions to address the practice of “split settlements” that is sometimes used when executing real estate settlements in that state. The guidance pertains to the agency’s regulation of title settlement agents pursuant to RESPA and the Real Estate Settlement Agents Act. Read on for details from the bureau.
|
|
|
HUD issues fourth round of tribal community funding
Posted Date: Wednesday, March 16, 2022
The Department of Housing and Urban Development has awarded nearly $70 million in Indian Community Development Block Grant-American Rescue Plan grants to 49 tribal communities to prevent, prepare for and respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. President Joe Biden has stated strengthening relations with tribal nations is one of his administration’s priorities.
|
|
|
FinCEN identifies risky AML jurisdictions
Posted Date: Wednesday, March 16, 2022
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network has updated its lists of jurisdictions with strategic anti-money laundering/countering terrorist financing and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction deficiencies.
|
|
|
HUD announces $2.6 billion to ease homelessness
Posted Date: Wednesday, March 16, 2022
The Department of Housing and Urban Development will release over $2.6 billion in FY 2021 Continuum of Care Competition Awards for roughly 7,000 local homeless housing and service programs across the United States. The awards will provide funding to communities to help individuals and families experiencing homelessness move into permanent housing with access to supportive services, with the overarching goal of long-term stability.
|
|