Matthew J. Richardson is Manley Deas’ Director of Litigation and Compliance. Throughout his career, he has practiced in the areas of commercial and financial services litigation and currently focuses his practice on defending mortgage servicers in trials and appeals. Before ...
Read More »CFPB Assesses Effectiveness of Mortgage Servicing Rule
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.
Read More »Counsel’s Corner: Look Out for Manufactured RESPA Lawsuits
Kirby McDonough, a member of Quarles & Brady's Commercial Litigation Practice Group, spoke with DS News about the growing number of “manufactured” lawsuits claiming alleged RESPA violations that have sprung up in the wake of the decline in foreclosures—and how to prepare yourself to deal with these types of lawsuits.
Read More »PHH Cries Foul, Claims CFPB Abused Its Power
The trial in the case of PHH Corp. v. CFPB is set to begin Tuesday. This is a landmark case because it is the first time in the almost five-year history of the CFPB that a company has judicially challenged a penalty handed down by the Bureau.
Read More »CFPB Fines Two Lenders $35.7 Million for Kickback Scheme
Wells Fargo and JPMorgan have agreed to pay a combined $35.7 million in penalties and redress over their roles in an alleged kickback scheme with a Maryland title company, according to an announcement from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) on Thursday.
Read More »CFPB Charges Stonebridge with RESPA Violations
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced it is charging Parsippany, New Jersey-based Stonebridge Title Services Inc., with violating the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) by offering kickbacks for business referrals. In a consent order released Thursday, the CFPB ordered Stonebridge to pay a civil penalty of $30,000.
Read More »CFPB Fines Alabama Firm for Mortgage Disclosure Violations
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ordered RealtySouth to pay a civil penalty of $500,000 for inadequate disclosures. The largest real estate firm in Alabama was charged with leaving consumers unaware of their rights to choose service providers during the home-buying process.
Read More »CFPB Introduces New Forms for Integrated Disclosure Rule
Charged by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act to integrate loan disclosures stemming from the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 (RESPA), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has integrated four forms into two in order to create more streamlined and easier to understand mortgage disclosure paperwork.
Read More »Cost of Compliance: Community-Based Mortgage Servicing
New regulations have the propensity to transform the mortgage industry into a system where servicers deliver, regulators protect, and consumers trust again. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) mortgage servicing regulations aim to do just that—get delinquent borrowers into loan modification plans and establish effective communication channels between the servicer and borrower to ultimately protect them from foreclosure.
Read More »CFPB Orders Payout for RESPA Violations
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ordered 1st Alliance Lending, LLC (First Alliance) to pay an $83,000 civil money penalty for violating federal law. The company illegally split real estate settlement fees, leading to the CFPB ordered payout. First Reliance self-reported the violations to the Bureau, admitted liability, and provided information related to other actors that helped facilitate other investigations.
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