Richard J. Andreano, Jr.

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Recently, a complaint was filed against loanDepot.Com, LLC (“loanDepot”) in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland alleging violations of the Truth in Lending Act (TILA)/Regulation Z loan originator compensation rule (Rule), which applies to closed-end consumer credit transactions secured by a dwelling.

The complaint alleges that loanDepot “unlawfully steered Plaintiffs and those similarly situated to loans with higher rates and fees and further created a system for the falsification of internal forms and federal disclosures to conceal those activities.”… Continue Reading

In another case that may not augur well for the CFPB staff, the Supreme Court is allowing the Trump Administration to continue dismantling the Education Department, lifting a court order that had required the rehiring of as many as 1,400 employees, about half of the Department’s employees, while a lawsuit challenging the Administration’s firing of those employees is pending.… Continue Reading

The U.S. Senate recently passed H.R. 1815, the VA Home Loan Program Reform Act, to reauthorize partial claims with U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) guaranteed home loans. The U.S. House of Representatives passed the legislation in May 2025, and the legislation now moves to President Trump for his signature.

With the sunset of a prior VA home loan partial claim program, and the more recent wind down of the Veterans Affairs Servicing Purchase (VASP) program, the enactment of the legislation is welcome news to the mortgage industry.… Continue Reading

Recently the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) rescinded various FHA mortgage loan requirements in a series of five Mortgagee Letters.

Supplemental Consumer Information Form

As previously reported, HUD announced in Mortgage Letter 2023-13 that lenders must use the Supplemental Consumer Information Form (SCIF) of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in connection with FHA insured mortgage loans with application dates on or after August 28, 2023.… Continue Reading

The huge budget bill signed by President Trump on July 4 does not include a proposal from Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee Republicans to delay implementation of the Section 1071 rule for ten years, but the Trump Administration still is expected to revise the rule.

The Section 1071 rule is a Dodd-Frank provision that requires financial institutions to report information contained in loan applications submitted by small businesses, including women-owned, minority-owned and LGBTQI+-owned small businesses.… Continue Reading

The Department of Housing and Development is seeking information about the impact that the frequent use of Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) products may have on borrowers’ ability to meet housing-related expenses, including rent or mortgage payments. Comments are due on or before August 25, 2025.

“The rise of BNPL lending raises important questions about how it may impact housing affordability and stability,” the department said, in issuing a Request for Information.… Continue Reading

The House has passed legislation that would ban “trigger leads,” except in limited circumstances.

The “Homebuyers Privacy Protection Act of 2025,” H.R. 2808, passed the House by voice vote. The Senate has passed, S. 1467, a slightly different version of the bill by unanimous consent. The two bodies must now reconcile differences between their bills.… Continue Reading

As previously reported, in addressing the fact that current stays of the section 1071 small business data collection and reporting rule only apply to the applicable plaintiffs, intervenors and their members, the CFPB advised in May 2025 that it would not make enforcement of the rule a priority in order to provide relief to parties not covered by any court stay of the rule.… Continue Reading

As previously reported, based on an unopposed motion submitted by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) the October 2021 redlining consent order with Trustmark National Bank was terminated early, and the DOJ is seeking early termination of the September 2022 consent order with Lakeland Bank.… Continue Reading

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed a motion with a federal district court to terminate early the September 2022 consent order with Lakeland Bank (Lakeland) that settled allegations of redlining under the Fair Housing Act and Equal Credit Opportunity Act. The motion also seeks the dismissal with prejudice of the case that the DOJ brought that resulted in that consent order.… Continue Reading