On May 4 H.R. 10, the Financial CHOICE Act (the Act) introduced by House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, obtained enough votes to move the bill on to the House of Representatives floor.  The Act seeks to rollback or modify many of the regulatory and supervisory requirements imposed by the Dodd-Frank Act.… Continue Reading

The CFPB issued its final rule amending the mortgage servicing rules under Regulations X and Z.  The proposal for these amendments was issued in November 2014.  The amended provisions cover a wide range of topics, including the following:

  • Tailored periodic statements and early intervention notices for borrowers in bankruptcy;
  • Additional procedures for communicating with, and confirming, a wide variety of potential successors in interest;
  • Application of loss mitigation procedures and foreclosure protections more than once over the life of the loan;
  • An additional notice required upon completion of a loss mitigation application;
  • Clarification of how certain requirements apply in the context of a servicing transfer; and
  • Relief from the periodic statement requirement for certain charged-off loans.
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In an unmistakable warning shot to mortgage servicers, the CFPB recently issued a “Mortgage Servicing Special Edition” of its Supervisory Highlights. The CFPB also updated portions of its Mortgage Servicing Examination Procedures.

In the Bureau’s accompanying press release, and throughout the Supervisory Highlights, there is a particular focus on perceived technological failures.… Continue Reading

The CFPB issued a proposed rulemaking last week to amend various provisions of the mortgage servicing rules under Regulation X and Regulation Z. Comments are due 90 days from the date of publication in the Federal Register. Ballard Spahr’s Mortgage Banking Group will continue to analyze the proposal and work with our clients and industry groups on its impact.… Continue Reading

The CFPB and the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) will be hosting two webinars on October 16 and 17 from 2-3:30 PM ET to address outstanding questions under the new mortgage rules.  The October 16 session will address the servicing rules and the October 17 session will address the origination rules.… Continue Reading

As expected in light of Director Cordray’s comments last week, on Friday, the CFPB finalized several amendments and clarifications to the mortgage rules, proposed on June 24, 2013 (see our previous Legal Alert outlining the amendments as proposed).  The amendments include revisions to the CFPB’s mortgage servicing rules, loan originator compensation rules, and ability-to-repay rules. … Continue Reading

In keeping with its promise to provide further guidance to the industry on the recent mortgage loan rules, the CFPB recently issued proposed clarifications and changes to the ability to repay/qualified mortgage rule and the servicing rules. Comments on the proposal will be due 30 days after it is published in the Federal Register.… Continue Reading

Although its new mortgage servicing regulations do not take effect until next January, the CFPB sent a reminder to residential mortgage servicers last week that they need to be ready now for the CFPB to take a close look at their operations.  In Bulletin 2013-1, the CFPB issued guidance warning servicers and subservicers that CFPB examiners will be looking carefully at their compliance with federal law and focusing on specific areas related to servicing transfers.  … Continue Reading

In their letter commenting on the CFPB’s mortgage servicing proposal, Americans for Financial Reform and numerous other consumer advocacy groups, including Consumers Union, have asked the CFPB to consider withdrawing and reissuing the portions of the proposal that deal with loss mitigation and error resolution.

With regard to error resolution, the groups criticize the CFPB for limiting the types of claims that trigger the resolution procedures and urge the CFPB to add as a trigger “a general ground that covers any borrower request to avoid foreclosure or address other ‘standard servicer dut[y].'” … Continue Reading

After reviewing the CFPB’s proposed mortgage servicing regulations, our basic observation is that the proposals follow the script contained in the CFPB’s exam guidelines, the fact sheet issued by the CFPB in April outlining what the proposals would contain, and the March settlement of high profile servicing-related enforcement actions by the federal government and state attorneys general. … Continue Reading