Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Law Blog
Subscribe to this blog's feed
Follow us on TwitterTopics
- Auto Finance
- CFPB
- CFPB Enforcement Actions
- CFPB Rulemaking
- Class Actions
- Credit Cards
- Credit Reporting
- Debt Collection
- Dodd-Frank
- ECOA
- Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
- Fair Lending
- Fannie Mae
- FDIC
- Federal Housing Administration
- Foreclosures
- Freddie Mac
- HOEPA
- Insurance Coverage
- MERS
- Mortgage Servicing
- Mortgages
- Office of Comptroller of Currency
- Pay Day Lending
- Preemption
- Privacy
- Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act
- Reverse Mortgages
- State Consumer Protection Laws
- Student Loans
- Truth In Lending Act
- Uniform Commercial Code
Recent Updates
- CFPB and State Regulators Announce Non-Binding Framework for Supervision and Enforcement Coordination-- Can CFPB Deliver On Promise To Reduce Regulatory Burdens?
- Reid Puts Off Cordray Nomination Vote Until Late Summer--Is He Arming The Nuclear Option?
- Senate Vote on Cordray Nomination Expected Next Week: Anyone Holding Their Breath?
- Get Out the Popcorn (and an Energy Drink): The CFPB Releases Videos On New Mortgage Rules
- CFPB Proposes Delay in Implementing Rule Against Financing of Certain Credit Insurance on Mortgage Loans
- Just-Issued Final Remittance Rule Suggests CFPB is Listening… Sort Of
- FHFA Limits Fannie and Freddie to “Qualified Loans”: Another Strike Against Non-Qualified Loans and the Consumers Who Rely on Them
- CFPB Publishes Small Entity Compliance Guides for New HOEPA, ECOA, and TILA Rules- Institutions of All Sizes Should Take Notice
- CFPB Probes Auto Lenders Over Extended Warranty And Other Ancillary Products
- CFPB Hosting Student Loan Hearing: New Rules On The Way???
Editors
Contributors
Showing 9 posts in Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act.
Private Mortgage Insurance: Does the CFPB’s Latest Enforcement Action Effectively Regulate Captive Reinsurance Out of Existence?
Today (4/4/13), the CFPB announced enforcement actions against, and settlements with, four mortgage insurers involving what “the Bureau believes to be improper kickbacks paid by mortgage insurers to mortgage lenders in exchange for business.” The CFPB alleges that, in exchange for business referrals, the four insurers—Genworth U.S. Mortgage Insurance Corporation, United Guaranty Corporation, Radian Guaranty Inc., and Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corporation—violated RESPA by providing kickbacks to lenders in connection with the purchase of captive reinsurance, which the CFPB claims were designed to help lenders obtain greater profits. The CFPB contends these captive reinsurance deals violated RESPA because the projected value of the reinsurance was less than the reinsurance premiums paid by mortgage insurers to the reinsurer. Under the terms of the proposed consent orders filed with the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, the mortgage insurers will: (i) pay a collective $15 million in penalties to the CFPB; (ii) cease the paying “illegal kickbacks”; (iii) not enter into new captive mortgage reinsurance arrangements with affiliates of mortgage lenders; and (iv) submit to compliance monitoring and reporting. Read item (iii) carefully: All four companies agreed that they would NEVER AGAIN enter into captive mortgage reinsurance arrangements with mortgage lenders. Read More ›
CFPB Issues New National Mortgage Servicing Rules
Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued the expected mortgage servicing final rules. At over 1,000 pages, the final rules will amend the Truth in Lending Act (Regulation Z) and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (Regulation X). Consistent with the Bureau’s proposal, the rules cover nine major topics and implement the mortgage servicing provisions of Title XIV of the Dodd-Frank Act. The rules, which will take effect on January 10, 2014, directly implement Congressionally-mandated servicing reforms but also include a host of required loss mitigation rules and processes. The CFPB promulgated these latter rules by way of its general rulemaking authority under RESPA provided in the Dodd-Frank Act, not pursuant to specific Dodd-Frank statutory provisions. In prepared remarks for today’s field hearing in Atlanta, CFPB Director Cordray emphasized that these new rules are not only mandatory for mortgage servicers (with limited exceptions for smaller servicers), but “are backed by the full supervisory and enforcement authority that Congress has conferred upon [the CFPB].” Read More ›
CFPB Refuses To Modify Civil Investigative Demand—Issues Warning To Other Financial Institutions
In an action that will come as a surprise to no one, CFPB Director Cordray has refused to modify or set aside a Civil Investigative Demand (CID) issued by the CFPB to PHH Corporation (PHH), a leading non-depository mortgage services provider. The CFPB served the CID in May 2012 in connection with its investigation to “determine whether mortgage lenders and private mortgage insurance providers or other unnamed persons have engaged in, or are engaging in, unlawful acts or practices in connection with residential mortgage loans in violation of the [Consumer Protection Act] and [the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act].” PHH objected to the CID as overly broad, unreasonable and irrelevant. Read More ›
CFPB PROPOSES NEW, SWEEPING RULES TO REGULATE MORTGAGE SERVICING
On August 9, the CFPB released two sets of proposed rules that will substantially impact the mortgage servicing industry. The proposed rules, which were issued under the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) and Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), cover nine major topic areas and impose new, stringent requirements on the servicing industry. The proposed TILA rules are available here, and the proposed RESPA rules are available here. In an indirect jab at current mortgage servicing practices, CFPB Director Rich Cordray claims that the new rules “offer consumers basic protections and put the ‘service’ back into mortgage servicing.” Bob Davis, executive vice president of the American Bankers Association, warns that, when considering these rules, servicing should not “get tangled up in so much red tape that high-quality, responsive servicing is no longer viable.” Others caution that these regulations will impose significant costs on mortgage servicers. Indeed, some suggest that some large banks have already begun shifting their mortgage servicing to dedicated mortgage servicers in anticipation of these regulations. Read More ›
Court Grants Preliminary Injunction That Prevents CFPB From Enforcing TILA Rules on Credit Card Fees
A federal district court in First Premier Bank v. U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (D.S.D.) granted a preliminary injunction to First Premier Bank (“Premier”) to block the CFPB’s enforcement of an amendment to Regulation Z, which would narrow the scope of fees credit card companies can impose on the type of cards typically offered to subprime borrowers. The injunction, based in part on the finding that the Federal Reserve Board (“FRB”) had exceeded its authority, prevents the CFPB from enforcing the amendment until a final decision is made in the case. Read More ›
Senate Committee Approves Cordray to Head Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
The Senate Banking Committee voted 12-10 to approve Richard Cordray’s nomination to be the first director of the CFPB. Cordray is a former Ohio attorney general who currently leads the Bureau’s enforcement division. The committee voted along party lines, with no Republican committee member voting to approve the nomination. Cordray’s nomination now proceeds to the full Senate for a vote. Read More ›
Date Calls for Greater Transparency in Checking Account Fees
On the heels of Bank of America’s announcement that it will impose a monthly fee on debit card users, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) has signaled that it will work toward increasing transparency regarding checking account fees and might require more simplified checking account disclosures. Raj Date, special advisor to the Secretary of the Treasury on the CFPB, recently issued a statement noting that “checking accounts often come with a wide variety of unexpected costs that can quickly add up for consumers.” Read More ›
CFPB Drafting Qualified Mortgage Regulations in Hopes of Expanding Mortgage Loan Originations
The CFPB is currently drafting regulations that define the requirements of a Qualified Mortgage (“QM”) and the benefits to lenders whose loans fall within the QM parameters. Recognizing that “[t]here can be little or no access to credit unless suppliers of capital are willing to finance home mortgages,” Patricia McCoy, the CFPB’s assistant director for mortgage markets, is appreciative of the hundreds of extremely thoughtful comment letters received that will inform this “critical and difficult rulemaking.” Read More ›
CFPB Releases Mortgage Servicing Examination Procedures and Manual
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB” or the “Bureau”) announced its initial approach to supervising mortgage servicers. Specifically, the Bureau released its Mortgage Servicing Examination Procedures (the “Procedures”), along with its CFPB Supervision and Examination Manual (the “Manual”). The devotion of CFPB resources to servicer regulation was foreshadowed by a speech from Raj Date, special advisor to the Secretary of the Treasury, on September 20, 2011. The CFPB, of course, was the brainchild of Professor Elizabeth Warren, who argued in a November 2008 law review article for the creation of a “single, highly motivated federal regulator” to police mortgage servicing activity. The Manual and the Procedures constitute the CFPB’s first broad attempt to implement that vision. Read More ›