News By Edition

A pair of borrowers have plausibly pled a brokerage firm and title company violated the anti-kickback provision of RESPA, even though the alleged promised bonus had not been paid at the time the lawsuit was filed, an Ohio court recently ruled. The defendants argued the buyers lacked standing to bring their claims because they did not suffer a concrete injury.  However, the buyers claimed they were overcharged for settlement services.

A Texas borrower sued his lender for allegedly foreclosing on him even though he complied with the terms of a trial loan modification. The borrower says he did not learn of the foreclosure sale until two months after it occurred—when the seller sought to evict him. The district court previously determined summary judgment was appropriate because the borrower did not timely accept the trial modification plan.

Some companies are unlawfully considering religion when making decisions on financial products, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Bureau examiners recently found lenders violated fair lending law by improperly inquiring about small-business applicants’ religious affiliation and by considering an applicant’s religious affiliation in the credit decision. The bureau is particularly concerned about how financial institutions might be making use of artificial intelligence and other algorithmic decision tools.

Homebuyers who bought a home last year only viewed a median of eight homes before purchasing – the lowest number ever reported since the National Association of Realtors (NAR) began tracking that information. Read on for insight from NAR Vice President of Demographics and Behavioral Insights Jessica Lautz.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has awarded more than $83 million in Indian Community Block Grant-American Rescue Plan (ICDBG-ARP) grants to 74 tribal communities to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. This is HUD’s third round of ICDBG-ARP awards since the Biden administration announced it was committed to delivering equitable COVID-19 relief to tribal communities.

A Michigan borrower sued her servicer for allegedly failing to properly respond to her qualified written requests and for violating the prohibition on dual tracking by pursuing a foreclosure while simultaneously reviewing her loan modification. The borrower requested actual damages for out-of-pocket expenses photocopying and obtaining certified copies of correspondence; lost time and inconvenience; late fees and denial of credit. She also sought additional statutory damages and attorney’s fees.

A homeowner who purchased a single-family existing home 10 years ago at the median sales price of $169,000 likely would have gained $225,000 in home equity if the home were sold at the median sales price of $363,100 in the third quarter of 2021. That’s according to a new study by National Association of Realtors Senior Economist Gay Cororaton, who examined housing wealth gains over the past three decades.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has received more than 1,075 public comments on a proposed new rule designed to help small businesses gain access to credit by increasing transparency in the lending marketplace. The bureau said government agencies could use the data to aid fair lending, supervisory and enforcement efforts. But some industry trade groups say the rule would impose significant costs on banks, negatively affect consumers and do little to help fair lending.

A borrower sued his servicer for scheduling a sale of his Maryland property while he was allegedly engaging in good faith attempts to qualify for loss mitigation relief. The servicer argued the case should be dismissed under the doctrine of res judicata. As grounds for dismissal, the borrower claimed the defendants “continued to furnish requested documentation to the lender while no decision had been made on the [ ] loss mitigation package.”

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) assessed an $8 million civil money penalty against a Texas bank for willful violations of the Bank Secrecy Act and its implementing regulations. The bank admitted it willfully failed to implement and maintain an effective anti-money laundering program or report hundreds of suspicious transactions to FinCEN involving illegal financial activity by its customers who were subjects of criminal investigations.

A lead-generation company that collected sensitive information from millions of consumers under the guise of connecting them with lenders will pay $1.5 million in civil penalties and face restrictions on their operations as a result of a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit. The proposed settlement order will prohibit the defendants from making misleading statements to consumers, including about how their personal information will be used.

The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) recently highlighted efforts that spurred participation in its mortgage relief program and helped forge a national model to protect homeowners impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.  Early in the pandemic, the DFPI issued a reporting requirement for residential mortgage servicing licensees to report how they would be protecting homeowners through increased mortgage relief staffing, mitigation efforts such as repayment plans, and state and federal mortgage relief funding.

The Department of Justice has obtained a settlement agreement with the Housing Authority of the Town of Lone Wolf, Okla., and two of its former employees to resolve allegations they violated federal law when they denied housing to a Black mother and her young daughter because of their race. Under the settlement, the defendants must pay $75,000 in damages and take other actions to remedy their violations of the Fair Housing Act and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is encouraging programmers, data scientists and others with knowledge of the algorithms and technologies used by companies to alert the agency of potential discrimination. CFPB Chief Technologist Erie Meyer noted that while algorithmic mortgage underwriting is sometimes hailed as a method to significantly reduce housing discrimination, and many of those designing the algorithms seek to create a fairer housing market, that’s not always the end result.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) Chair Jelena McWilliams will resign from her post effective Feb. 4. McWililams, who became chair in June 2018 under the previous administration, recently sent a letter of resignation to President Joe Biden stating that serving the American people at the FDIC has been the highlight of her professional life.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced a $9 million loan guarantee to Cleveland to develop a mixed-used site that includes nearly 200 housing units and a 40,000 square foot grocery store. Cleveland was chosen as a model to demonstrate how HUD’s Section 108 Loan Guarantee Program can serve as a critical source of federal financing to promote projects in distressed areas.

A California district court has once again ruled in favor of a lender in a case of first impression under consumer credit transactions. The borrower claimed the alleged TRID loan disclosures did not accurately reflect the terms of the loan. The borrower was trustee of a trust created for personal estate planning purposes. She claimed she obtained the loan to make repairs to the property so the sole beneficiary of the trust could continue to live there.

Existing-home sales rose in November, marking three consecutive months of increases, according to the National Association of Realtors. Three of the four major U.S. regions reported growth in monthly sales, while the fourth region held steady in November. From a year-over-year perspective, only one region experienced a rise in sales as the three others saw home sales decline.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has reached a conciliation/voluntary compliance agreement resolving allegations accusing a group of California property managers of refusing to rent to or provide adequate language services for applicants with limited English proficiency.