The CFPB staff presented an informational webinar on Tuesday, April 12, 2016, to address several issues with the TILA/RESPA Integrated Disclosure (TRID) rule.  The webinar, titled Know Before You Owe Mortgage Disclosure Rule: Post-Effective Date Questions & Guidance, focused on responding to specific industry raised questions.  Specific topics of discussion included:

  • Determining what fees must be disclosed;
  • APR changes that require a new 3-day waiting period;
  • Lender and seller credits as they relate to the APR and finance charge;
  • The calculation of the Total Interest Percentage (TIP);
  • Disclosure of the owner’s title insurance policy premium when disclosures produce a negative premium amount;
  • Flood insurance premium disclosures;
  • Disclosure of escrow account balances credited from an existing loan;
  • Separate borrower and seller Closing Disclosures;
  • Disclosure of whether a loan is assumable;
  • How to address upfront fees collected from the consumer for items that cost less than the collected amount; and
  • Disclosure of a principal curtailment.
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The interest of federal regulators in marketplace lending continues to grow.  In March 2016, the CFPB announced that it is taking complaints about marketplace lenders.  In July 2015, the Treasury Department issued a request for information regarding online marketplace lending and, in February 2016, the FDIC published an article highlighting the risks for banks that partner with marketplace lenders.… Continue Reading

Earlier this week, the CFPB announced the addition of several new members to its senior leadership team.

The announcement included the news that the CFPB has filled the position of Assistant Director for the Office of Small Business Lending Markets.  The CFPB’s job posting indicated that the Assistant Director would head the CFPB’s team involved in developing rules to implement the small business lending data requirements of Dodd-Frank Section 1071. … Continue Reading

The constitutionality of the CFPB’s structure was front and center at this past Tuesday’s oral argument in PHH Corporation et al. v. CFPB before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.  The case involves PHH’s appeal from Director Cordray’s June 2015 decision  affirming an administrative law judge’s recommended decision that concluded PHH had violated the referral fee prohibition in Section 8 of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA). … Continue Reading

The CFPB representatives who will be participating in the Chicago session of the 21st Annual Consumer Financial Services Institute, sponsored by the Practicing Law Institute, have now been confirmed.  The Chicago session will take place  on May 12-13, 2016.  (The New York City session was held on April 4-5, 2016 (with live webcasts and groupcasts in Cincinnati, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Mechanicsburg, PA).)… Continue Reading

A number of prominent industry trade groups have written to the Department of Defense (DoD) seeking clarifications to the Military Lending Act (MLA) final rule adopted in July 2015 that dramatically expanded the scope of the MLA’s coverage.  The DoD consulted with the CFPB in developing the final rule, and the CFPB actively supported the DoD’s plans to expand MLA coverage.… Continue Reading

Two Republican members of the House Financial Services Committee, Randy Neugebauer and Mick Mulvaney, have sent a letter to Director Cordray asking him to convene a forum or roundtable of state and tribal officials before the CFPB proposes a payday loan rule.

In the letter, the Congressmen assert that comments made by CFPB officials about the CFPB’s anticipated payday loan rule indicate a “disregard for state and tribal sovereignty and the existing state-based regulatory framework.” … Continue Reading

I am delighted to report that Alan Kaplinsky has received the prestigious Senator William Proxmire Lifetime Achievement Award from the American College of Consumer Financial Services Lawyers.  The award is granted periodically to a person whose career has produced many years of distinguished accomplishments and contributions to the field of consumer financial services law. … Continue Reading

Much of Director Cordray’s testimony in his appearance before the Senate Banking Committee yesterday consisted of his predictable defense of various CFPB positions.  While the hearing was much less contentious than last month’s hearing of the House Financial Services Committee at which Director Cordray appeared, the questions raised by Republican Senators focused on many of the same areas of concern as those of Republican House members.… Continue Reading

On April 4, at the Practicing Law Institute’s (“PLI”) 21st Annual Consumer Financial Services Institute in Manhattan, Alan Kaplinsky (a co-chair of the institute) moderated a panel entitled “The CFPB Speaks,” where CFPB officials shared their own insights on industry trends on their radar, priorities for the coming years, and views on certain hot-button issues.… Continue Reading