News By Edition

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has released a set of frequently asked questions about escrow accounts under RESPA. RESPA News reached out to two servicing experts, Mayer Brown LLP Partner Krista Cooley and Ballard Spahr LLP Partner Reid Herlihy, to provide insight on the new guidance.

The National Association of Realtors recently studied the impact of institutional buyers on home sales and single-family rentals.  Its report found institutional buyers – defined as entities identified in deeds data as corporations, companies or limited liability companies – accounted for 13.2 percent of residential purchases in 2021.

Last March, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released an initial report on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on housing insecurity. Since then, the bureau has continued to monitor the market to assess new and developing risks to consumers.

In a recent blog, CFPB Financial Analyst Kristin Wong provided updates showing an improving economic picture, yet continued housing insecurity risks.

Existing-home sales decreased for a fourth straight month in May, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Only one major U.S. region recorded a month-over-month increase, while the other three regions saw sales declines, the latest NAR report stated.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has published a Federal Register notice governing the use of $2 billion in Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery funds for electric power system enhancements and improvements for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The notice is the latest in a series of HUD actions under the Biden-Harris administration to support recovery and renewal in the two U.S. territories.

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has updated its student loan monthly payment calculations to provide more access to affordable, single-family, FHA-insured mortgage financing for creditworthy individuals with student loan debt, which has a disproportionate impact on people of color. The updated policy more closely aligns FHA student loan debt calculation policies with other housing agencies.

Senate Banking Committee Ranking Member Pat Toomey has asked the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to turn over documents to determine whether the agency has violated civil service protections to get rid of senior officials who served under former President Donald Trump.

In a letter to acting bureau Director Dave Uejio, Toomey said the new CFPB leadership may be illegally pushing out top-level career civil servants to fill those spots with “hand-picked loyalists.” Read on for details.

Less U.S. financial institutions are reporting Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data, according to the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC). The HMDA data is the most comprehensive publicly available information on mortgage market activity. It is used by industry, consumer groups, regulators, and others to assess potential fair lending risks and for other purposes. Read on for details from the FFIEC.

A pair of Michigan borrowers filed a class action lawsuit alleging their servicer failed to make certain disclosures in a home equity line of credit transaction. The plaintiffs alleged their servicer violated both TILA and RESPA. Read on to see why a judge allowed only one of the claims to go forward.

Decades of underinvestment and underbuilding have created a shortage of housing in America that is more dire than previously expected and will require a concerted, long-term nationwide commitment to overcome, according to a new report by the National Association of Realtors. Read on for NAR’s analysis.

The Senate Banking Committee recently held its second hearing to attempt a long-term reauthorization of the National Flood Insurance Program during this session of Congress. Chairman Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) said reversing the trajectory of climate change is going to be a long-term effort. Read on for highlights from the hearing.

The agenda stated the CFPB will prioritize issuing a final rule – projected for July – to amend mortgage servicing early intervention and loss mitigation-related provisions in RESPA. Read on for details.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced it will resume Military Lending Act-related examination activities. The bureau issued an interpretive rule explaining its authority to examine supervised financial institutions for risks to active duty servicemembers and their dependents from conduct that violates the MLA. Read on for details from the CFPB.

The FDIC’s revised policy statement reflects public comment received in response to a proposal issued in August 2020 and updates, strengthens and clarifies the agency’s policies and procedures related to its existing MDI framework. Read on for details.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has charged a New York landlord with violating the Fair Housing Act by denying a tenant’s reasonable accommodation request to keep an assistance animal and retaliating against the tenant by evicting her. The owner claimed he evicted the woman because the dog had displayed aggressive behavior and was not a legitimate assistance animal.

Read on for more from HUD.

An Austin, Texas real estate technology company has lost the first round in its antitrust complaint against Zillow and the National Association of Realtors. 

REX, incorporated as Real Estate Exchange, Inc., was launched in 2015 and uses technology to enhance efficiency and reduce brokerage commissions.  A federal judge recently denied REX’s preliminary injunction request seeking to prevent the defendants from engaging in alleged anticompetitive conduct. Read on for the latest in the case.

The publication provides a clear definition of the duty to affirmatively further fair housing, to which many HUD grantees must certify compliance. The interim action rescinds the previous administration’s rule, “Preserving Neighborhood and Community Choice.”

Read on for details from HUD.

U.S. Virgin Islands native Adrianne Todman is the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s  new deputy secretary.

Todman was confirmed Thursday by the full Senate in a unanimous voice vote. Read on for details.

National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO) President Sunny Shaw said she supports President Joe Biden’s plan to address the affordable housing crisis and revitalize the nation’s housing infrastructure.

Meanwhile, NAHRO members said they will continue to call for at least $70 billion for public housing repairs, more funding of the HOME Investment Partnership Program, and an increase in tenant-based vouchers. Read on for details.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has awarded of the first portion of American Rescue Plan funds for Emergency Housing Vouchers for individuals and families who are experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness. Specifically, HUD is awarding $1.1 billion–70,000 vouchers–for 626 public housing authorities administering the Housing Choice Voucher Program. Read on for more from HUD.

An Ohio man sued his servicer for allegedly initiating foreclosure proceedings after failing to properly respond to his notice of error (NOE) after he moved to a different state.

The servicer argued there is no private right of action for violating the NOE rule, which states a servicer shall provide a written notice to a borrower before any change in the address used for receiving a NOE.  Read on for a magistrate’s recommendations in the case.

The GAO found the CFPB didn't follow leading practices for organizational change. Read on for details from the report and acting CFPB Director Dave Uejio’s response to the findings.

NAR first added a question about sexual orientation to its annual study in 2015. Read on for insight on this year’s report from NAR Vice President of Demographics and Behavioral Insights Jessica Lautz and President Charlie Oppler.

For the first time in its history, the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) has moved to revoke the license of a Property Assessed Clean Energy administrator.

The DFPI said it found one of Renovate America, Inc.’s solicitors repeatedly defrauded homeowners in San Diego County, Calif. Read on for details.

The COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on in-house counsel compensation in 2020 across all industries, according to a new study by executive search firm BarkerGilmore. The company’s 2021 In-House Counsel Compensation Report showed base salary increases were at their lowest level in five years. For more details, read on.

In December 2018, the GAO suggested FDIC coordinate with other federal banking regulators and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to communicate in writing issues to consider when selecting types of alternative data to use. Read on for details from a new GAO report.

The National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB) appointed an interim director to replace departing Antoine Thompson, who served as executive director since 2015. The group, founded in 1947, is the largest and oldest minority real estate trade association in America with a mission of “democracy in housing.”

Read on for details on NAREB’s newest leader.

Manufactured housing is one of the most affordable types of housing available to low-income consumers and makes up 13 percent of the housing stock in small towns and rural America.

But low acquisition costs–along with higher interest rates and limited opportunity to refinance–can make manufactured housing loans a potentially risky avenue for homeownership, according to a new report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Read on for details.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has reached a conciliation/voluntary compliance agreement with California housing providers resolving allegations of discrimination against residents with limited English proficiency (LEP).

The providers were accused of failing to provide language access services to Vietnamese residents and retaliating against an employee for advocating for residents with LEP to receive oral interpretation services and translated vital documents. Read on for details from HUD’s conciliation agreement.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Jelena McWilliams recently testified before the House Financial Services Committee on oversight of prudential regulators.

McWilliams gave an update on several issues of focus for the FDIC, including the need to monitor consumer lending and technology’s vital role for banks as they seek to meet consumer expectations for access to financial services and to improve the resilience of their operations. Read on for details.

Pending home sales took a step backward in April, according to the latest report from the National Association of Realtors (NAR).  The Pending Home Sales Index fell 4.4 percent to 106.2 in April. Read on for input from NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has awarded five communities a combined $160 million to redevelop severely distressed housing and spur comprehensive revitalization under the federal Choice Neighborhoods Initiative.

Read on to learn which low-income cities will receive funding for high-quality, mixed-income housing and other projects.

The proposed plan would provide HUD nearly $150 billion to strengthen communities, expand access to affordable housing and create good-paying jobs for working and middle-class families that won’t require a college degree.

Read on for details from HUD.

After a judge dismissed a borrower from Puerto Rico’s RESPA claim against his servicer, the mortgagee’s successor in interest filed a motion for attorney fees, alleging the mortgagor knew his action was time barred when the complaint was filed.

The borrower claimed omitting the key RESPA date from the complaint was an oversight. The servicer sought more than $11,000 in attorney fees. For the latest in the case, read on.

Existing-home sales decreased in April, marking three straight months of declines, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). All but one of the four major U.S. regions had month-over-month drops in home sales.

Read on for details from NAR.

The National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP) has released an addendum to its 2020 State of Hispanic Homeownership Report on its website.

The report, which measures Hispanic homeownership by U.S. congressional district, now has an online tool that will be updated annually to allow for easy search and sorting of data across 343 congressional districts.

Read on for details from NAHREP.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is making $145 million in competitive funding available to build systems intended to end youth homelessness in local and rural communities.

The grants are being made available through HUD’s Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program. Up to 50 communities are eligible to implement youth specific programs to address the needs of youth experiencing or at risk of homelessness. Read on for details.

The Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) is seeking public comment on proposed nationwide licensing requirements for money service businesses (MSBs).

CSBS said the goal is to build a new system to adapt to new ways of thinking about how regulators will work together. Read on for details.

A pair of Wisconsin borrowers filed a class action lawsuit alleging their servicer violated RESPA and TILA by failing to pass on net income derived from the borrowers’ interest-bearing escrow fund.

They also alleged Nationstar Mortgage, LLC withdrew funds from their account without permission and failed to provide adequate notice of the transfer in loan servicing.

Read on to learn why the judge denied Nationstar’s motion for dismissal.

In spite of the global pandemic, its drastic impacts on how business was conducted, and a dwindling housing supply, 2020 saw the highest number of homes sold since 2006, according to the National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) latest annual report.

Read on for reaction from NAR Vice President of Demographics and Behavioral Insights Jessica Lautz.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) is gathering information and soliciting comments from interested parties about insured depository institution’s current and potential digital asset activities.

The FDIC said it recognizes there are novel and unique considerations related to digital assets, so the agency is issuing a request for information to provide industry and consumer guidance in this area. Read on to learn how you can make your voice heard.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency announced it will reconsider the June 2020 final Community Reinvestment Act rule.

Read on for reaction from Consumer Bankers Association President and CEO Richard Hunt.

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown has advanced the nomination of Adrianne Todman as the next deputy secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
Todman was approved by a voice vote.

If approved by the full Senate, Todman – who led the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials and held previous positions at HUD - will become thefirst Black woman to serve as the agency’s second-in-command. Read on for details.