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Seila Law loses CID fight in constitutionality case
Posted Date: Monday, January 4, 2021
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has determined a civil investigative demand (CID) issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) against a California law firm is still valid – despite the fact that the agency was unconstitutionally structured.
The circuit court held CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger’s ratification of the CID remedies any constitutional injury that Seila Law may have suffered.
Read on for details from the Ninth Circuit’s recent ruling.
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Real Estate One, a one-stop shop pioneer
Posted Date: Thursday, January 23, 2020
The family behind Michigan-based Real Estate One (formerly Elsea Realty) started experimenting with affiliated businesses long before they became commonplace in the industry.
Besides steadily growing its network of brokerages, Real Estate One (REO) has been cultivating a one-stop-shop real estate experience for 45 years. REO co-owner Stuart Elsea recently spoke to us to share the RESPA compliance lessons the company has gained in these affiliations over time.
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DOJ settles lawsuit accusing Kansas landlord of sexual harassment
Posted Date: Thursday, January 23, 2020
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has settled a lawsuit accusing a Kansas landlord of violating the Fair Housing Act (FHA) by sexually harassing numerous female tenants.
The case is among 13 lawsuits the DOJ has filed since launching a joint taskforce with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to combat sexual harassment in housing.
Read on to see what damages and civil penalties the Kansas landlord agreed to pay.
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OCC fines Citibank $17.9 million for flood insurance violations
Posted Date: Thursday, January 23, 2020
Citbank, N.A. has been ordered to pay a $17.9 million civil money penalty for violating the Flood Disaster Protection Act (FDPA) and its implementing regulations.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) found the Sioux Falls, S.D.-based bank engaged in a pattern or practice of violating 42 U.S.C. § 4012a(e) and 12 C.F.R. § 22.7(a).
Read on for more details from the consent order.
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House Democrats ask GAO to research alternative data
Posted Date: Thursday, January 23, 2020
House Financial Services Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters and other Democrats are asking the Government Accountability Office (GAO) for information on the benefits and drawbacks of alternative data in mortgage lending.
The lawmakers recently sent a letter to GAO Comptroller General Gene Dodaro requesting details about the role of the federal government in overseeing the use of alternative data by credit reporting agencies and lenders.
Read on for more from the letter.
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Former FTC director joins new CFPB taskforce
Posted Date: Thursday, January 23, 2020
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has announced one more member who will serve on the Taskforce on Federal Consumer Financial Law.
William MacLeod, partner at Kelley Drye & Warren, LLP, past chair of the Antitrust Section of the American Bar Association, and former bureau director at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will also join the taskforce.
Read on for more from the CFPB’s latest announcement on the taskforce.
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HUD to give billions more for Puerto Rico disaster recovery
Posted Date: Monday, January 20, 2020
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson has announced a record grant agreement with Puerto Rico.
The deal announced will make an additional $8.2 billion available to help with disaster recovery efforts.
Read on for reaction from HUD Secretary Ben Carson, who also announced a new hire to oversee the disbursement process of disaster recovery funds to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
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Court denies class certification in RESPA case
Posted Date: Monday, January 20, 2020
A New York couple filed a putative class action complaint against their servicer, alleging the company improperly and untimely processed their mortgage assistance applications to charge them excessive loan delinquency fees.
A federal judge previously found the couple sufficiently alleged both actual and statutory damages, but recently rejected the couple’s motion to certify a class.
Read on for details from the judge’s opinion to learn why class certification was denied.
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CFPB denies CID delay pending Supreme Court case
Posted Date: Monday, January 20, 2020
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has denied an indirect finance company’s request to set aside or modify a civil investigative demand (CID) to determine whether debt relief providers induced people to enter into unfair, deceptive or abusive U.S. Department of Education student loans.
The company had argued that the CID, which was issued Oct. 23, was overly burdensome.
It also made an alternative claim that the CID deadlines should be put on hold until after the Supreme Court decides the constitutionality of the removal restriction in Seila Law v. CFPB, which will be argued March 3.
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Stratmor’s seven commandments
Posted Date: Monday, January 20, 2020
What’s a lender gotta do to get referrals?
In 2019, the industry posted record loan volumes. Yet lenders didn’t see that increase in business translate to good worth of mouth, according to mortgage advisory firm Stratmor Group.
In the company’s article, “The seven commandments for optimizing the customer experience,” Stratmor MortgageSAT Director Mike Seminari provides tactics lenders can follow to greatly improve the borrower experience. Read on for Seminari’s tips.
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FinCEN: Elders face increased financial threat
Posted Date: Monday, January 20, 2020
Elders face an increased threat to their financial security by both domestic and foreign actors, according to a Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) analysis of more than 298,000 elder financial exploitation Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) filed between October 2013 and August 2019.
The total numbers of filings and total suspicious activity amounts increased 20 percent and 30 percent, respectively, each year during the time period.
Read on for details from FinCEN’s report.
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FTC publishes inflation-adjusted penalty amounts
Posted Date: Monday, January 20, 2020
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has adjusted the maximum civil penalty dollar amounts for violations of 16 provisions of law it enforces.
The move to adjust the dollar amounts is required by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015.
Read on for details from the FTC.
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Counsel: Seila Law ‘remarkably weak’ case to decide constitutionality
Posted Date: Thursday, January 16, 2020
Seila Law’s dispute with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) over a civil investigative demand (CID) is not the proper case to decide the constitutionality of the bureau.
That’s according to the amicus brief filed Jan. 15 by court-appointed attorney Paul Clement, who will argue in support of the CFPB’s structure March 3 before the Supreme Court since the Department of Justice (DOJ) has chosen not to defend the constitutionality of the agency.
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Senators urge OIG to investigate CFPB’s low levels of restitution
Posted Date: Thursday, January 16, 2020
Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) are leading efforts calling on the Office of Inspector General to investigate the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) low levels of restitution.
The senators recently wrote to Inspector General Mark Bialec, urging him to open an investigation into four recent consumer fraud cases in which CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger provided no or what they deemed to be inadequate restitution to harmed consumers.
Read on for details from the senators’ request.
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CFPB: Bank of America granted NAL for HUD agreements
Posted Date: Thursday, January 16, 2020
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has agreed not to bring supervisory or enforcement actions against Bank of America for its funding arrangements with Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) housing counseling agencies (HCAs) – even if the arrangements could be construed as referrals under RESPA Section 8 (a).
The bureau recently granted Bank of America’s request for a no-action letter (NAL)
Read on for details from Bank of America’s NAL – the first under the bureau’s revised NAL policy.
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CFPB creates new regulatory taskforce
Posted Date: Thursday, January 16, 2020
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has announced a new taskforce that will examine the existing legal and regulatory environment facing consumers and financial services providers.
The Taskforce on Federal Consumer Financial Law will focus on identifying gaps in knowledge that should be addressed through research, ways to improve consumer understanding of markets and products, and potential conflicts or inconsistencies in existing regulations and guidance.
Read on for details from the CFPB.
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NAR: Affordability contributes to slower job growth
Posted Date: Thursday, January 16, 2020
Metro areas where affordability has worsened over the last five years have seen a decline in job growth during that same period, according to a new National Association of Realtors (NAR) study.
The report, found that affordability rankings declined in 81 metro areas and that more housing inventory is needed to help solve the problem.
Read on to see which areas experienced the largest drops and reaction from NAR.
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TRID comment deadline next week
Posted Date: Monday, January 13, 2020
Time is running out to make your voice heard on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) TRID rule.
The bureau previously issued a request for information (RFI) seeking industry feedback on potential changes to the rule as part of its statutorily mandated five-year assessment.
Read on to see how you can submit your comment to the CFPB by the deadline next week.
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CFPB sues student loan debt relief companies
Posted Date: Monday, January 13, 2020
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has filed a lawsuit against several student loan debt relief companies and individuals that allegedly obtained consumer reports illegally, charged unlawful advance fees and engaged in deceptive conduct.
The bureau also alleges that certain defendants misrepresented to consumers that the U.S. Department of Education would become their servicer.
Read on for details from the complaint, filed Jan. 9 in U.S. District Court Central District of California.
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NAR unveils new fair housing initiative
Posted Date: Monday, January 13, 2020
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) have partnered up to communicate the importance of housing access for all Americans.
NAR and HUD will jointly work on public service announcements and other proactive fair housing initiatives.
The meeting came just hours after HUD passed a new plan to encourage the production of affordable housing through greater guidance. Read on for details from NAR.
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CSBS issues fintech accountability report
Posted Date: Monday, January 13, 2020
The Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) has released an accountability report charting progress made on a series of initiatives to streamline state licensing and supervision of financial technology companies.
This work is part of CSBS Vision 2020, a bundle of initiatives driving toward a networked system of nonbank licensing and supervision.
Read on for details from the Fintech Industry Advisory Panel’s Accountability Report.
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Survey: Fourth quarter good time to buy, sell homes
Posted Date: Monday, January 13, 2020
More than half of Americans recently polled believe that now is a good time to make a home purchase, according to the latest consumer findings from the National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) 2019 fourth-quarter Housing Opportunities and Market Experience (HOME) survey.
The survey of more than 2,700 U.S. households broke down statistics by age, geographic region and income.
Read on for reaction from NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun.
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NAR supports environmental reforms in housing
Posted Date: Monday, January 13, 2020
National Association of Realtors (NAR) President Vince Malta met recently with President Donald Trump at the White House as the administration announced plans to reform the National Environmental Policy Act.
NAR has argued that reforms to scale back undue regulatory burdens while retaining strong environmental quality standards will increase housing inventory.
Read on for more details from Malta’s appearance at the White House.
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Lawsuit alleges RESPA violation led to borrower's suicide
Posted Date: Thursday, January 9, 2020
A California woman has accused a lender of manipulating her late husband into signing for a fraudulent loan to avoid having to comply with RESPA, which contributed to his suicide.
The borrower also is claiming the mortgage broker and servicer helped her husband fraudulently obtain a second mortgage loan on the family home, which he then was unable to repay.
Read on for details of the judge’s recent opinion.
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HUD proposing new fair housing rule
Posted Date: Thursday, January 9, 2020
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has proposed a new Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) rule to encourage the production of affordable housing through clearer guidance to states and local governments.
HUD’s proposed rule would establish a uniform reporting process, revise the definition of AFFH, develop metrics to allow comparison of jurisdictions and require jurisdictions to certify that they will AFFH.
Read on for more details from the department’s proposal.
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FTC: Broker posted personal consumer info after bad Yelp reviews
Posted Date: Thursday, January 9, 2020
A California-based mortgage broker has settled Federal Trade Commission (FTC) allegations that it violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act and other laws by revealing personal information about consumers in response to negative reviews posted on the review website Yelp.
The FTC alleges the company’s actions harmed potentially thousands of Yelp users, who were readily identifiable in the brokers’ responses.
Read on for details from the complaint.
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DFS issues cyberattack alert to regulators
Posted Date: Thursday, January 9, 2020
The New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) has issued an industry letter to all regulated entities on the need for heightened cybersecurity precautions following recent events in Iran.
The letter warned of a heightened risk of cyberattacks from hackers affiliated with the Iranian government after an airstrike killed Iranian Major General Qassem Soleimani last week.
Missile strikes against two Iraqi military bases that house U.S. forces were launched Jan. 7 in retaliation.
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ICBA asks Congress to help community banks
Posted Date: Thursday, January 9, 2020
Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) President and CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey has penned an open letter to Congress on behalf of the nation’s community bankers.
Rainey urged members of Congress to concentrate on top-priority legislative initiatives that already boast bipartisan support ahead of this fall’s election.
Read on to learn ICBA’s top goals for the new year.
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Neveu joins Butler Snow's New Orleans office
Posted Date: Wednesday, January 8, 2020
Wayne J. Neveu has joined Butler Snow LLP in its New Orleans office, and will practice with the firm’s public finance, tax incentives and credit markets group.
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HUD OIG report reveals management challenges
Posted Date: Monday, January 6, 2020
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is struggling to maintain a qualified federal workforce and to ensure ethical conduct with the external parties it relies on to maintain its programs.
That’s according to a new HUD Office of Inspector General (OIG) report that summarizes what the agency considers the most serious management issues facing HUD in fiscal year 2020. Read on for details from the HUD OIG.
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PayPal: CFPB is violating the First Amendment
Posted Date: Monday, January 6, 2020
PayPal has filed a lawsuit claiming the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau requires it to make misleading and confusing disclosures about the fees and functionalities of its products and places unreasonable restrictions on consumers’ abilities to link certain credit products to their PayPal accounts. Read on for details from the lawsuit, which also accuses the CFPB of violating the company’s First Amendment rights and confusing consumers.
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Judge issues new ruling in challenge over associations’ standing in executive order
Posted Date: Monday, January 6, 2020
Three industry associations that challenged President Donald Trump’s executive order requiring two regulations to be repealed for every one new regulation promulgated have once again lost their legal fight for the case to proceed. The associations sued the government and the case was heard in the D.C. District Court, with the court first deciding whether the associations had Article III standing to bring the case. Read on for highlights of the judge’s opinion.
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Waters to HUD: Release FHIP funding now
Posted Date: Monday, January 6, 2020
House Financial Services Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters has asked the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to immediately release the Fair Housing Initiatives Program’s Notice of Funding Availability for fiscal year 2019.
Waters (D-Calif.) recently wrote a letter to HUD Secretary Ben Carson after learning the agency delayed the release. Read on for details from Waters’ letter.
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FHFA reports to Congress on guarantee fees
Posted Date: Monday, January 6, 2020
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has released its annual report on single-family guarantee fees charged by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Read on for more details from FHFA.
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HUD awards nearly $80 million to help families
Posted Date: Monday, January 6, 2020
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has awarded more than $79 million to nearly 700 public housing authorities across the country.
These funds will help residents of public housing and voucher-assisted housing increase their earned income and reduce their dependency on public assistance and rental subsidies. Read on for more details from HUD.
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Industry debates possible remedies if CFPB found unconstitutional
Posted Date: Thursday, January 2, 2020
There is consensus on each side on whether 12 U.S.C. §5491(c)(3) can be severed from the rest of the Dodd-Frank Act if the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is found unconstitutional on the basis of the separation of powers, but the proposed remedies under each scenario vary considerably. Read on for proposed solutions by Republican senators, the National Association of Realtors, Mortgage Bankers Association and Consumer Bankers Association related to Seila Law’s case against the CFPB.
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DOJ sues landlord for sexual harassment
Posted Date: Thursday, January 2, 2020
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed a lawsuit alleging a Toledo landlord offered female tenants reduced rent in exchange for sex, and threatened to evict those who objected. This is the 12th lawsuit alleging a pattern or practice of sexual harassment in housing that the department has filed since it launched its Sexual Harassment in Housing Initiative in late 2017. Read on for details from the DOJ.
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Stratmor study focuses on mortgage servicing
Posted Date: Thursday, January 2, 2020
Mortgage advisory firm Stratmor Group addresses some of the most common questions mortgage professionals have on servicing in its latest Insights Report. The most popular questions regard servicing retention, prepayment speeds, how to determine when servicing becomes unprofitable and escrows. Read on for more insight from Stratmor Principal Seth Sprague.
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OCC: Foreclosures continue downward trend
Posted Date: Thursday, January 2, 2020
The overall performance of first-lien mortgages during the third quarter of 2019 showed foreclosures are significantly on the decline, according to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s (OCC) quarterly report on mortgages. Read on for more details from the OCC.
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Q3 commercial multifamily mortgage debt up
Posted Date: Thursday, January 2, 2020
Mortgage debt for commercial and multifamily mortgage loans increased in the third quarter of 2019, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Commercial/Multifamily Mortgage Debt Outstanding quarterly report. Read on for highlights of the MBA’s report.
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New TRID guidance: More questions than answers?
Posted Date: Monday, December 30, 2019
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has published two new TRID Guides to provide guidance on construction and construction-to-permanent loans. The guidance is the most detailed on construction lending TRID disclosures from the CFPB to date.
However, it is not likely to help with industry confusion on how to properly disclose construction-to-permanent, one-time-close loans – especially as a single transaction on the Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure, according to Amanda Phillips, Ballard Spahr of Counsel.
Read on to get more guide tips from the CFPB and hear what Phillips had to say.
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Industry at odds over severability question in CFPB constitutionality case
Posted Date: Monday, December 30, 2019
A California law firm is arguing that the U.S. Supreme Court need not conduct a severability analysis when deciding a case that argues for abolishing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and every regulation enacted by it.
Meanwhile, the National Association of Realtors and other groups warn that bypassing the severability issue would mean TRID and other rulemaking actions could be invalid.
Read on for details from recent court filings in the Seila Law case.
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House passes trade deal
Posted Date: Monday, December 30, 2019
The House of Representatives has voted in favor of ratifying the United States-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement (USMCA).
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) previously joined with the Canadian Real Estate Association and the Asociacion Mexicana de Profesionales Inmobiliarios in support of the USMCA.
Read on for a statement from NAR.
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Report: Closing and title defects down
Posted Date: Monday, December 30, 2019
Critical defects related to loan package documentation are considerably down, a sign of the industry’s continued positive loan quality trend, according to a new report from ACES Risk Management (ARMCO).
Read on to find out the overall critical defect rate, plus how lenders fared in defects related to income/employment, compliance and property appraisals.
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CFPB issues threshold changes
Posted Date: Monday, December 30, 2019
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has issued a rule which finalizes the asset-size exemption thresholds for depository institutions under Regulation C.
The bureau also announced asset-size exemption thresholds for certain creditors under the escrow requirements and small creditor portfolio and balloon-payment qualified mortgage requirements, and the small creditor exemption from the prohibition against balloon-payment high-cost mortgages under Regulation Z.
Read on for more details from the bureau.
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Carson: California homelessness at ‘crisis level’
Posted Date: Monday, December 30, 2019
California’s rate of homelessness increased more than the total national increase of every other state combined.
While the rest of the country experienced a combined decrease in homelessness, significant increases were found in unsheltered and chronic homelessness on the West Coast.
Read on for details from the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s 2019 Annual Homelessness Report to Congress.
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