Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
By Ryan Schuette | 05/10/2012
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau unveiled new rulemaking proposals Thursday that would require background checks for mortgage originators and complement a previous rule that prohibits loan officers from steering borrowers to higher-priced products. Together with these rules, others would provide consumers with discounts for paying mortgage origination points, mandate comparison plans for those interested in tracking different products, and ban brokerage firms from charging fees that vary by the loan size.
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By Ryan Schuette | 04/24/2012
Parties to the landmark mortgage servicing settlement appointed one man to oversee $25 billion in compliance. In an interview with DS News, Joseph A. Smith, onetime banking commissioner for North Carolina and ex-nominee to head the Federal Housing Finance Agency, lays out the role he envisions playing as he monitors funds for homeowners, states, and the federal government. The settlement monitor speaks with an understated tone about his stewardship of the historic settlement, which 49 state attorneys general and federal officials completed in February.
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By Ryan Schuette | 04/20/2012
The House Financial Services Committee signed off on legislation Wednesday that would repeal bailout funds under the Dodd-Frank Act and more than half the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's (CFPB) budget. Clearing the legislation by a party-line vote, committee members billed it as a way to slash $35 billion from the national deficit.
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By Ryan Schuette | 04/16/2012
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a bulletin Friday reminding financial institutions that they may be held accountable for violations under contracted service providers. The agency said that banks and nonbank entities need to supervise their third-party vendors with due diligence, consistently request and review their internal controls and training materials, and establish clear expectations about compliance. The CFPB is reaffirming its role as both a formal supervisor and informal trendsetter in the industry.
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By Esther Cho | 04/15/2012
In response to mortgage servicing rules the Consumer Financial Protection announced it may propose, Fitch Ratings issued a statement and said it believes mortgage servicers will incur increased operational, compliance, and reporting expenses if the rules take effect. To create more transparency, the CFPB said it is considering rules which require clear monthly mortgage statements, a warning before interest rates adjust, options to avoid "force-placed" insurance, and early information to keep customers out of foreclosure.
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By Esther Cho | 04/10/2012
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is looking to propose mortgage servicing rules to keep borrowers from costly surprises and prevent servicers from giving customers the runaround.
Lack of transparency and lack of accountability are the two issues motivating the new rules, and to create more transparency, the CFPB is proposing clear monthly mortgage statements, a warning before interest rates adjust, options to avoid force-placed insurance, and early information to keep customers out of foreclosure.
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By Esther Cho | 03/27/2012
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) filed an amicus brief on behalf of borrowers for their rights to cancel home equity-loans or second mortgages if they did not receive important disclosures required by the Truth in Lending Act (TILA). The amicus brief - or "friend of the court" - was filed to ensure proper implementation of statutes allowing certain borrowers to rescind on their loans if they notify the lender of their intent to cancel within three years of signing the loan.
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By Esther Cho | 02/27/2012
The American Guild of Appraisers (AGA) petitioned the Fed and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to overturn a regulation that allows appraisers to be paid a fraction of what can be defined as a customary and reasonable fee, a release from the AGA stated. In 2010, Dodd-Frank rules were enacted to establish certain requirements for appraisals, including one to “ensure that creditors and their agents pay customary and reasonable fees to appraisers,” according to the Dodd-Frank website. But last year, the Fed introduced a new law that the AGA views as undermining the original Dodd-Frank requirement.
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By Krista Franks | 02/14/2012
The settlement reached last week between federal and state officials and the nation's five largest servicers includes specific provisions for U.S. military members wrongfully harmed by their mortgage servicer. Four of the five banks participating in the settlement - JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, and Ally - will review foreclosures of military members since January 2006, identifying instances of violation of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, according to the Department of Justice.
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By Carrie Bay | 02/13/2012
As many as 10 million homeowners are at risk of default, according to Richard Cordray, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). In an op-ed piece, Cordray recounts the type of behavior and practices that put so many Americans in danger of losing their homes - it's what he describes as "the wild West of lending." Enter the CFPB. While the agency is charged with overseeing all consumer-facing financial products and services, Cordray says its greatest focus is on the mortgage market, and servicing in particular.
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