Tag Archives: CFPB

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced Wednesday that they found a Chicago-based mortgage servicer in violation of federally mandated rules, and subsequently ordered restitution payments and system changes. The investigation found the mortgage servicer did not provide ample information about foreclosure relief options. Restitution requirements come in the form of a fine and procedural changes.

A new study shows that consumers located in lower-income areas are more likely to establish credit history through negative means, like debt collection, than those in higher-income areas. While 27 percent of low-income area consumers establish their history through what are called “nonloans,” just 7.9 percent of consumers in high-income areas establish credit via these non-loans. The study also found the percentage of Americans who became credit visible due to student loans more than doubled over the last decade.

Fitch Ratings has opted to keep Ocwen Financial Corporation’s ratings as-is—both on its servicing and its bonds—despite the servicer’s recent MSR sale. Announced last month, Ocwen will sell its mortgage servicing rights, along with $117 billion in unpaid principal balance, and become a sub-servicer of New Residential Investment Corporation. Regardless of the sale, Fitch has announced Ocwen will keep its “Negative” residential primary servicer rating.

The latest CFPB Monthly Complaint Report shows older Americans face a unique set of financial difficulties compared to their younger counterparts. The group regularly cites reverse mortgage concerns—specifically servicing issues and difficult changing loan terms—when lodging complaints with the CFPB. Older Americans also cite financial scams, confusion around deferred- and zero-interest credit cards, and being charged unauthorized add-on products as frequent financial complaints.

Nearly a decade after the housing crisis in 2008 and the passing of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act in 2010, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will soon be required by law to examine the Ability-to-Repay/Qualified Mortgage Rule and assess the rule’s effectiveness. With the housing market having bounced back since the crash, will some of the rule’s guidelines be amended? What could this mean for borrowers and mortgage professionals?

The highly anticipated hearing for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and PHH Corporation took place Wednesday in front of the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The Court of Appeals agreed to revisit their October decision ...

MERSCORP Holdings, Inc., announced this week it will support the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s updated Home Mortgage Disclosure Act requirements by facilitating legal entity identifier (LEI) registrations and renewals for users of MERS System and other industry participants.

The Five Star Diversity Symposium was a day-long event focused on advancing the conversation on diversity within the mortgage industry, and featured keynote addresses from industry leaders as well as panel discussions. Represented were companies and government agencies within the mortgage industry, including the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas.

Currently, the Bureau is seeking comment from consumers, consumer advocates, housing counselors, mortgage loan servicers, industry representatives, and the general public regarding the RESPA mortgage servicing rule, and will issue a report of their assessment by January 2019. The rule, introduced in January 2013 and which took effect in January 2014, was designed to assist consumers who were behind on mortgage payments. Among other things, the RESPA mortgage servicing rule requires servicers to follow certain procedures related to loss mitigation applications and communications with borrowers.

The CFPB attempted to block Ocwen’s expediting attempt by telling a Florida federal court to deny Ocwen’s attempt at fast-tracking its constitutional challenge against the agency’s structure. Ocwen had previously stated its opinion of the CFPB’s structure, saying in a release that it “believes that the CFPB is unconstitutionally structured, because it vests too much unfettered power in the hands of the CFPB’s Director and the Bureau itself, without any meaningful oversight by the President or Congress”