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News By Edition
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Dodd Frank Update Monthly Edition
Dodd Frank Update November 2018
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Wells, eOriginal take ‘giant step forward’ in digital closing
Posted Date: Tuesday, October 23, 2018
The announcement sounded simple but its impact could be revolutionary. Wells Fargo Home Lending and eOriginal announced they entered into an agreement to enable the purchase of eNotes through Wells Fargo’s correspondent channel, Wells Fargo Funding.
The move could lead to a wave of new digital mortgages offered by lenders who did not have the reach, scale or capabilities to do so previously on their own.
Company leaders sat down with Dodd Frank Update at the Mortgage Bankers Association annual convention to discuss the benefits for their companies and the mortgage industry as a whole.
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TRID exams get more technical, experts say
Posted Date: Tuesday, October 9, 2018
The period of voluntary compliance is over with respect to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure (TRID) amendments. However, TRID compliance remains tantamount to a moving target some in the industry just can’t seem to hit.
As the updated TRID provisions have taken effect, many continue to struggle with the disclosure requirements implemented three years ago as regulators have gotten more technical in their examinations.
Why are examiners’ increasingly focusing on technical aspects of TRID and what can lenders do to avoid violations?
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Breaking down quandary of formal, informal guidance
Posted Date: Friday, October 12, 2018
The financial industry has shown support for the prudential regulators’ recent joint statement detailing plans to more clearly distinguish between regulatory guidance and rules, but some experts see a quandary in that fact.
Garris Horn Managing Member Richard Horn told Dodd Frank Update that the industry’s support for the idea of ensuring that guidance does not have the force and effect of a rule could prove to be a double-edged sword.
Get an in-depth look at the potential positives and negatives of regulators’ new approach to guidance.
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CFPB to revisit payday ATR, not payment provisions
Posted Date: Friday, October 26, 2018
Following up on acting director Mick Mulvaney’s previously stated intention to reconsider the agency’s payday lending rule, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has said it expects to issue proposed rules in January that would alter the rule’s ability to repay (ATR) requirements but not affect its payment provisions.
The bureau said it believes the ATR provisions hold “greater consequences” than other portions of the rule.
Find out more details about when the bureau plans to issue its proposed changes.
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CFPB shelves required 1071 rulemaking
Posted Date: Friday, October 19, 2018
Whereas rulemaking activity has been scarce since Mick Mulvaney took up interim director duties at the bureau, 2019 promises to be more eventful on that front, based on the agency’s Fall 2018 Unified Agenda for rulemaking.
Many of the rulemakings have been in the works since before Mulvaney came to the bureau, and others would reconsider aspects of rules that took effect under Richard Cordray’s tenure. The most noteworthy part, however, was the shelving of Dodd Frank-mandated 1071 rulemaking concerning small business lending data collection.
Find out more details about where the bureau stands on many highly anticipated rulemaking activities.
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Rule detailing ‘abusive’ prong in the works
Posted Date: Monday, October 15, 2018
There weren’t broad pronouncements or condemnation of technology service providers as Richard Cordray doled out three years ago, but Consumer Financial Protection Bureau acting director Mick Mulvaney did have some news for attendees of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) annual convention.
Sitting with new MBA CEO Robert Broeksmit, Mulvaney told the audience that there was some clarity on the way for the bureau’s authority over unfair, deceptive and abusive acts and practices (UDAAP).
Read on for details of the agency’s work on the abusive prong of UDAAP.
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GSEs, updated tech highlight Washington MBA session
Posted Date: Friday, October 26, 2018
The capital of the country was the center of attention on the first full day of the Mortgage Bankers Association annual convention in Washington D.C.
Brian Phillips, the Treasury Department counselor to Secretary Steve Mnuchin, and Federal Housing Administration Commissioner Brian Montgomery took turns on the MBA stage with presentations focused on key areas of the housing market, particularly technology.
Read on for insights from the Washington officials.
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MBA chairman prioritizes GSEs, innovation
Posted Date: Friday, October 19, 2018
In his first address to members as the Mortgage Bankers Association chairman, CMG Financial President and CEO Chris George made one thing clear about the association’s policy toward reform of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: The push would be inclusive.
“We are going to talk and work through the system until we get our agencies out of conservatorship,” he told MBA convention attendees in prepared remarks at the annual show in Washington D.C.
Read on for more from George, including his views on technology, underserved markets and diversity.
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MBA announces board, awards at convention
Posted Date: Friday, October 19, 2018
The Mortgage Bankers Association presented its new board of directors and announced a host of awards and designations at its annual convention in Washington D.C.
The board will be chaired by CMG Financial President and CEO Chris George and brings six new members to the 38-person board.
Read on for more details about the board, the awards handed out by MBA, the Open Doors Foundation and MBA education, as well as the new CMB designees.
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Bureau split over fair lending director’s writings
Posted Date: Friday, October 5, 2018
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has found itself on both sides of racially based controversy multiple times since its inception.
Since the unearthing of blog posts written years ago by the bureau’s recently appointed policy director Eric Blankenstein, which used racial slurs and expressed controversial views on the legitimacy of hate-crime reports, the agency has been hit with internal and external calls for the senior leader’s dismissal and the halting of a planned department restructure.
Find out what other points of contention come to mind when considering the various aspects of this matter.
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Mulvaney details family’s senior scam story
Posted Date: Tuesday, October 23, 2018
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau acting director Mick Mulvaney appeared Thursday at a field hearing in Baton Rouge, La., to discuss elder abuse.
In opening remarks to the audience, Mulvaney had his own family tale to tell about a senior scam.
Read on for more about Mulvaney’s family story, in addition to responses from audience questions about the Military Lending Act and Eric Blankenstein’s position with the fair lending division at the bureau.
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Trades urge CFPB to lift LO compensation restrictions
Posted Date: Friday, October 12, 2018
A dozen trade organizations representing all parties to the real estate transaction wrote to Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) acting director Mick Mulvaney, advocating for changes to the treatment of loan originators in the bureau’s Loan Originator Compensation Rule that would lift certain restrictions on lenders and loan originators.
The trades argued in their letter that certain restrictions result in consumer harm by denying them access to lower cost options during the mortgage origination process.
Find out more details about what the trades are advocating.
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Online lender subject to UDAAP investigation
Posted Date: Tuesday, October 23, 2018
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is evaluating reports of possible unfair, deceptive or abusive acts or practices (UDAAP) levied against a Florida-based online lender related to a loan add-on product that ratchets up loan costs and has led to numerous defaults.
A Florida congressman said state regulators are investigating the matter in a letter urging acting director Mick Mulvaney to follow suit.
Find out more details about the allegations and what Mulvaney said in response to the congressman.
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FHA assessing patterns of HECM appraisal bias
Posted Date: Tuesday, October 9, 2018
To stem the rise in what it called appraisal bias in reverse mortgage applications, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) recently announced that it will require a second appraisal any time it suspects a home’s value has been overestimated when being considered for a Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM).
The agency was scant on details about its evaluation methodology during a media conference call. However, FHA Commissioner Brian Montgomery said the agency would be looking for patterns among individual lenders, using unique attributes of its assessment tools.
Find out more about findings that led to the FHA’s new appraisal requirements and what Montgomery had to say about the move.
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Mortgage rates hit seven-year highs, applications decline
Posted Date: Friday, October 12, 2018
Mortgage rates for 30-year mortgages hit the highest levels in more than seven years while 15-year fixed-rate mortgages reached their highest mark since April 2010.
The rate milestones came with a 1.7 percent seasonally adjusted drop in mortgage applications week-over-week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Associations (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending Oct. 5.
Read on to find out more details about the recent milestones and what they could mean for the foreseeable future.
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CFPB cites ‘abusive’ practice in order
Posted Date: Friday, October 26, 2018
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) more lenient approach to enforcement under acting director Mick Mulvaney, compared with that of former Director Richard Cordray, has been called out by critics but a recent settlement with a small-dollar lender presented something new for the Mulvaney-run bureau.
What is noteworthy about it consent order against Cash Express LLC is the fact that, for the first time under Mulvaney, the bureau cited an action as “abusive” when invoking its UDAAP authority.
Learn more details about what practices the bureau determined to be abusive and deceptive, respectively, per the consent order, and what restitution the company is liable to pay.
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Lender pays $13.2 million to settle False Claims Act charges
Posted Date: Friday, October 26, 2018
To settle claims that it abused its status as a direct endorsement lender with the Department of Housing and Urban Development by knowingly approving substandard loans for Federal Housing Administration (FHA) insurance, Universal American Mortgage Company LLC agreed to pay $13.2 million to the United States, according to the Department of Justice.
The company, operating as Eagle Home Mortgage, was charged with violating the False Claims Act by falsely certifying that it complied with FHA mortgage insurance requirements in connection with loans it endorsed between Jan. 1, 2006, and Dec. 31, 2011.
Find out about how the company was able to skirt FHA oversight and the potential repercussions of such a practice.
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CSBS sues OCC over fintech charters again
Posted Date: Friday, October 26, 2018
Arguing that the banking regulator has exceeded its congressional authority by allowing fintechs to apply for bank charters, the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) has filed its second suit in two years against the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) in federal court.
The complaint seeks to prevent the agency from granting national bank charters to entities operating as nonbanks based on the OCC’s July fintech charter announcement and subsequent publication of a Licensing Manual Supplement.
Find out more details about the organization’s objections.
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FFIEC publishes CRA business lending data for 2017
Posted Date: Friday, October 26, 2018
The three federal banking agency members of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) has released 2017 lending data on small businesses, small farms and community development as required by the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA).
The lending data included in the report was gathered from 718 commercial banks and savings associations by the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
Read on to get more details about the collected data.
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Trades unveil cybersecurity profile
Posted Date: Friday, October 26, 2018
In an effort to provide banks a common, credible and efficient compliance approach to cybersecurity and assessment, the American Bankers Association (ABA) and other financial trade groups recently unveiled a new cybersecurity profile under the direction of the Financial Services Sector Coordinating Council.
Council representatives stressed the potential safety and soundness risks presented by cybercriminals which the new framework is designed to mitigate.
Read on to get more details about the intended benefits of the profile.
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PenFed hires Ashish Mahajan as enterprise data vice president
Posted Date: Thursday, October 25, 2018
PenFed Credit Union recently hired Ashish Mahajan as its first senior vice president of enterprise data. Mahajan will be responsible for developing enterprise data management (EDM) functions for the country’s second largest federal credit union, including data strategy, governance and futuristic capabilities for analytics and business intelligence, according to a company press release.
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FTC makes complaint data more accessible
Posted Date: Tuesday, October 23, 2018
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently decided to publish its aggregated consumer complaint data quarterly in an effort to make the information more accessible.
As part of the initiative, the agency also launched its first Consumer Protection Data Spotlight to provide in-depth insight about consumer complaint stories.
Find out more about the FTC’s initiative and what insight the data revealed.
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ABA survey finds high customer satisfaction
Posted Date: Tuesday, October 23, 2018
The American Bankers Association revealed new survey results indicating that nearly 9-in-10 Americans are satisfied with their bank.
The ABA also announced the selection of a new chairman and officers during its annual convention in New York.
Learn who comprises the new leadership at ABA, as well as what details the survey revealed.
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LendingQB, Cyberlink enhance eRAMP bulk loan integration with MERS
Posted Date: Tuesday, October 23, 2018
LendingQB, which provides lean lending loan origination technology solutions, and Cyberlink Software Solutions, which specializes in mortgage lending optimization and development solutions, recently enhanced the companies’ eRAMP bulk loan integration with MERS. The move is expected to drastically cut down on the time lenders spend registering and transferring loan rights.
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FormFree, LoanBeam partner to solve lenders’ toughest challenges
Posted Date: Monday, October 22, 2018
Automated verification provider FormFree has partnered with LoanBeam, an automated income extraction and calculation solution provider, in an effort to help mortgage lenders solve two of their toughest underwriting challenges: collecting digital borrower financial data directly from the source and calculating qualified income with accuracy, consistency and efficiency.
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FSOC rescinds last nonbank SIFI designation
Posted Date: Friday, October 19, 2018
The Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) has rescinded its 2013 decision to designate Prudential Financial, Inc., the largest life insurance company in the country, as a systemically-important financial institution (SIFI) under Section 113 of the Dodd-Frank Act.
The lifting of Prudential’s SIFI designation leaves FSOC absent any nonbank entities to treat as systemically important.
Find out what factors the council took into consideration in making the decision.
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Broeksmit highlights policy priorities in MBA Annual address
Posted Date: Friday, October 19, 2018
Newly elected Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) President and CEO Robert Broeksmit touched on advocacy priorities he looks forward to spearheading during his first opening general session address at the 2018 MBA Annual Convention and Expo in Washington, D.C.
Broeksmit noted that his motivation behind wanting to step into the head executive role at MBA was to work on the industry’s behalf, and that is what he told the search committee before landing the job.
Read on to learn what matters were focal points of his speech.
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Navy Federal gets new CEO
Posted Date: Friday, October 19, 2018
The world’s largest credit union will be under new leadership in 2019, after Navy Federal Credit Union announced that Mary McDuffie would become the new president and CEO of the company.
McDuffie will succeed Cutler Dawson, who is retiring after 14 years of service with the credit union.
Read on for more details about the leadership change at the credit union, which has more than 8 million members, 18,000 employees and more than $95 billion in assets.
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Make-A-Wish America selects Richard Davis as CEO
Posted Date: Friday, October 19, 2018
Make-A-Wish America’s board of directors recently selected Richard Davis to serve as the organization’s CEO, effective Jan. 2, 2019. Davis has more than 40 years of leadership experience, having most recently served at U.S. Bancorp as the company’s chairman and its president and CEO before that.
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Wolters Kluwer launches Vanceo Mortgage
Posted Date: Thursday, October 18, 2018
Wolters Kluwer recently launched Vanceo Mortgage, a loan processing system designed to be easy to use and create highly intelligent and compliant, end-to-end loan origination workflows. It assigns role-based tasks and enhances visibility of an institution’s mortgage lending operations and compliance management.
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CFPB: Delayed payment forwarding led to consumer harm
Posted Date: Monday, October 15, 2018
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) recently settled claims of unfair acts and practices levied against an online retailer charged with failing to timely forward consumer payments on debts that had been sold.
The delays resulted in misleading collection activity and negative impacts to consumer credit ratings.
Find out more details about how the actions cited in the bureau’s consent order led to consumer harm.
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CFPB implements FCRA disclosure changes
Posted Date: Monday, October 15, 2018
To reflect Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) changes initiated by S. 2155, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) recently issued an interim final rule updating two model disclosures.
To assist businesses with compliance, the rule updated the bureau’s model forms, incorporating the new requirements.
Find out more details about the new requirements.
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Dollar Bank reorganizes to avoid increased oversight
Posted Date: Monday, October 15, 2018
Dollar Bank recently approved a plan reorganize from a mutual savings bank to a mutual holding company, which would share it from incurring a host of new federal regulatory standards.
The decision came in light of the fact that, at $8.5 billion in total consolidated assets, the bank quickly is approaching the $10 billion asset threshold, which incurs increased regulatory oversight under the Dodd-Frank Act.
Find out more details about the bank’s decision.
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CUNA reveals industry CMS platform
Posted Date: Monday, October 15, 2018
To offer its members a new comprehensive, integrated compliance solution, the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) recently tapped Quantivate to develop a compliance management system platform designed to account for compliance burdens felt by credit unions.
CUNA staff, state credit union leagues and compliance advisory groups provided guidance throughout the developmental process.
Read on to get more details about what the association hopes the new platform will accomplish.
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INTEGRA works with New Penn, Freddie Mac to offer one-click AUS solution
Posted Date: Monday, October 15, 2018
INTEGRA Software Systems recently announced collaboration with New Penn Financial and Freddie Mac to launch a new solution to allow for one-click submissions of loan data to Loan Product Advisor, the automated underwriting system (AUS) for the government sponsored enterprises.
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Dodd Frank Update on site at MBA Annual
Posted Date: Friday, October 12, 2018
The Mortgage Bankers Association’s 2018 Annual Convention & Expo will feature many of the most influential figures in the industry in one place – the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington D.C.
Dodd Frank Update will be cataloguing insight shared from the stage and conducting one-on-one interviews with a multitude of industry insiders to offer high-level perspectives on a myriad of matters involving regulation and what awaits lenders in the near future and on the horizon.
Read more to find out some of the notable speakers, including bureau acting director Mick Mulvaney, and our coverage plans for the event.
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Mulvaney calls for unity, vows to protect staff rights
Posted Date: Friday, October 12, 2018
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) acting director Mick Mulvaney sent an internal email calling for staff unity following disputes over racially charged language in blog posts written by Associate Policy Director Eric Blankenstein.
Mulvaney assured staffers that he would not let critics affect his decision-making, and that he is as committed to preventing discriminatory acts within the agency as he is in the consumer financial marketplace.
Find out more details about what Mulvaney had to say.
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CUNA, state leagues set political endorsement record
Posted Date: Friday, October 12, 2018
The Credit Union National Association (CUNA) and state credit union leagues have devoted an all-time high of $7 million to supporting political candidates thought to be credit union-friendly for the 2018 midterm elections.
CUNA recently announced plans to back seven midterm candidates as part of that overall investment, one of whom is Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.). In addition to being the only senator in the latest group of endorsements, McCaskill joins Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) among the select few Democratic candidates to receive an endorsement from a national financial trade organization this year.
Find out more about the other candidates the association endorsed.
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Total Expert raises $20 million to grow MOS software
Posted Date: Thursday, October 11, 2018
Total Expert, a fintech software company serving lenders and bankers, recently announced that it has raised $20 million in Series B funding for its marketing operating system (MOS) software. The round of fundraising was led by Emergence Capital, with participation from Rally Ventures and Arthur Ventures, bringing Total Expert’s total funding to $34 million.
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Mid America Mortgage hires Pamela Misner as underwriting manager
Posted Date: Wednesday, October 10, 2018
Mid America Mortgage, Inc. recently hired Pam Misner as the company’s underwriting manager. With nearly 30 years of mortgage expertise, CEO and owner Jeff Bode expressed confidence in Misner’s ability to serve in the role and collaborate on the expansion of origination and production teams for Mid America’s West Coast branches.
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Republicans urge Fed to remove SIFI designations
Posted Date: Tuesday, October 9, 2018
Twenty-nine Republican congressmen wrote to Federal Reserve Vice Chairman for Supervision Randal Quarles urging him to exercise the Fed’s discretionary authority to remove financial institutions with $250 billion or less in assets from federal regulators’ list of systemically-important financial institutions per the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (S. 2155).
Referencing comments by Quarles earlier in the year asserting that entities at or below that asset level generally do not present a systemic risk to the economy, the congressmen urged Quarles to no longer subject them to heightened supervisory requirements that come with a SIFI designation.
Find out more details about the letter from the congressmen and the remarks by Quarles it references.
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Fannie Mae names Frater interim CEO
Posted Date: Tuesday, October 9, 2018
Fannie Mae recently announced that CEO Timothy Mayopoulos will conclude his tenure as the company’s top executive Oct. 15. Hugh Frater, a Fannie Mae board member since 2016, will take over for Mayopoulos on an interim basis the following day, subject to final approval from the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
Mayopoulos announced his plans to step down July 23 and has said he plans to work with the board of directors and his successor to help ensure a smooth transition.
Read on to learn more details about Frater and what Fannie Mae officials have to say about his appointment to take over for Mayopoulos.
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Bill would make ‘orphan’ VA loans securable
Posted Date: Tuesday, October 9, 2018
The mortgage banking industry has gotten behind bipartisan legislation that would clear up ambiguous language in S. 2155, ensuring that thousands of veterans’ loans are eligible for insurance through Ginnie Mae.
H.R. 6737, known as the Protect Affordable Mortgages for Veterans Act, passed by voice vote in the House. It would amend Title III of the recently enacted law, which implemented new eligibility requirements for refinanced Veterans Affairs (VA) loans to become Mortgage-Backed Securities guaranteed by Ginnie Mae.
Find out more about the technical fix proposed by this bill.
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Caucus leader touts bills favoring Blockchain, digital currencies
Posted Date: Friday, October 5, 2018
On the same day he and a fellow congressman were named the co-chairs of the Congressional Blockchain Caucus, Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) revealed plans to introduce three bills designed to support Blockchain technology and digital currencies.
Emmer introduced the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act, the Safe Harbor for Taxpayers with Forked Assets Act and a resolution supporting the development digital currencies and Blockchain technology.
Find out more details about the legislative pieces.
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Fed seeks input on faster payment proposals
Posted Date: Friday, October 5, 2018
The Federal Reserve Board is seeking feedback on what role it could play in facilitating faster payments. Specifically, the board is requesting recommendations for actions it could take to expedite the settlement of interbank payment and build on collaborative work with the payment industry through the Fed’s Strategies for Improving the U.S. Payment System (SIPS) initiative.
The Fed is considering two possible ways it could support round-the-clock faster payments in ways that would increase the resiliency and security of services offered to the public.
Find out more about the Fed’s request for comment and what the industry has said about it.
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Wilson sworn in as FTC commissioner
Posted Date: Friday, October 5, 2018
Five months after being confirmed to take over Maureen Ohlhausen’s commissioner seat on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Christine Wilson recently was sworn in for her second stint with the agency. She will serve in her new role for a term expiring Sept. 25, 2025.
Although she was confirmed as a commissioner in April, Wilson’s swearing in was delayed because of an unrelated pending confirmation.
Find out more details about the Wilson’s path to the commissioner’s seat.
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Proposed Bank Secrecy Act changes would help data security
Posted Date: Friday, October 5, 2018
Legislation introduced by Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.) proposes to increase consumer privacy protections and reduce burdens to certain financial institutions through amendments to the Bank Secrecy Act/Anti Money Laundering Rules (BSA/AML).
H.R. 6850, known as the Financial Reporting Threshold Modernization Act, would raise key thresholds that stipulate when covered financial institutions must take certain measures to ensure the security of consumers’ data.
Read on to find out more details about the legislation and which industry trade groups support it.
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Delinquencies trend down; home equity loans are key exception
Posted Date: Friday, October 5, 2018
Delinquencies are on the decline for the most part, according to analysts at the American Bankers Association (ABA) who expect that trend to continue. Bank card delinquencies saw the most significant drop while home equity loans stood as a notable outlier from the downward trend among delinquency categories.
The ABA’s Consumer Credit Delinquency Bulletin indicated that eight out of 11 categories the association tracks showed improvement or no change in the second quarter while two others saw only small increases.
Read on to get more details about the report’s findings.
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