News By Edition

Freedom Mortgage founder and CEO Stanley Middleman’s advice about leading through massive change?

“You usually don’t have a choice. It becomes easier to do when you think about the fact your options are limited: you’re either going to move forward, or you’re going to disappear. So, you better do a good job of it.”

The 17th annual National Settlement Services Summit kicked off its second day with a keynote address from Middleman, who spoke about the challenges of steering a company through a once-in-a-generation pandemic, putting the health and safety of customers and staff first, and what’s next on the horizon.

Read on for more details.

President Joe Biden has nominated a Cornell University law professor to head the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. She is known for her critiques of the banking industry and financial technology companies.

If confirmed, the nominee would be the first woman and the first person of color to lead the agency.

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The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued an in-depth analysis on the complaints submitted to the bureau between 2018 and 2020.

The report showed complaints differed in issues depending on whether the complainants were from wealthier communities and communities with higher percentages of white, non-Hispanic residents compared with communities of color and lower income communities.  

To discover why, read on.

SimpleNexus has integrated its Nexus Closing eMortgage solution with DocMagic’s eVault and eNote technologies.

Read on for more details.

According to a report by Black Knight, Inc., national foreclosure rates have started to increase, but they are still well below pre-pandemic levels.

Additionally, the delinquency rate on first lien mortgages fell in August.

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Through a new policy initiative titled, “Building Generational Wealth Through Homeownership,” the Mortgage Bankers Association has taken another step in its efforts to help reduce the racial homeownership gap.

“MBA’s new policy initiative serves as a perfect foundation to level the playing field,” 2021 MBA Chairman and SWBC Mortgage Corp. CEO Susan Stewart said in a release.

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Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee, urged President Joe Biden to nominate Sandra Thompson to be director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA).

Thompson has been the acting director of the FHFA since June 23, 2021. During that time, the agency has taken several actions to assist consumers and work toward fair housing goals.

Read on for more details. 

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) published a report on the Paycheck Protection Program and the changes made to it to address the concern certain smaller and minority-owned businesses were unable to access the program.

The GAO conducted this study because the CARES Act contained a provision for the agency to monitor the federal government’s efforts to respond to the pressures of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac followed up reports of potential bias resulting in racial and ethnic valuations gaps in home purchase appraisals by conducting research and analysis to determine where these gaps are occurring, why they exist, and what steps they can take to remediate the situation.

“As one of the largest consumers of residential appraisals in the United States, we’ve asked ourselves whether we are doing all we can to identify and help prevent it,” Jake Williamson, Fannie Mae vice president, single-family collateral risk management, said.

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MISMO and Snapdocs are partnering to develop a new e-eligibility service.

This service will enable mortgage industry participants to “understand how digital a mortgage transaction can be” and help lenders determine the right type of mortgage closing for each loan.

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The Mortgage Bankers Association Mortgage Credit Availability Index showed an increase in August.

Joel Kan, MBA associate vice president of economic and industry forecasting, said this increase was driven by significant activity across all indices.

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The Federal Housing Finance Agency announced two promotions, one to the deputy director of the Division of Enterprise Regulation, and the other acting deputy director of the Division of Federal Home Loan Bank Regulation.

The two will oversee and direct all examination activities.

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President Joe Biden has nominated a privacy advocate from Georgetown University’s law school to take Rohit Chopra’s seat on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). This nomination comes at a time when the FTC has been critiqued for not doing enough to protect consumers’ data.

FTC Chair Lina Khan, also a Biden appointee, congratulated the new nominee, as did the American Economic Liberties Project.

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In a report released by Ceres and CLIMAFIN titled “Financing a Net Zero Economy: The Consequences of Physical Climate Risk for Banks,” the companies outline detailed recommendations to guide the banking industry in handling the physical risk posed by climate change.

To develop the report, the two companies used natural catastrophe and credit risk models adjusted for climate effects, downscaled macroeconomic data, and publicly available information on syndicated loans from major U.S. Banks.

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Mr. Cooper Group has promoted two women to chief human resources officer (who will also be an executive vice president) and chief administrative officer.

Mr. Cooper Chairman and CEO Jay Bray said both are great leaders and will work to ensure the company remains a great place to work and “to infuse our culture and brand into everything we do.”

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Findings from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s monthly commercial real estate loan performance survey and a report on commercial and multifamily delinquency in the second quarter of 2021 showed said delinquencies to be on the decline.

“Delinquency rates for mortgages backed by commercial and multifamily properties have broadly improved in recent months as the U.S. economy continues to heal from the COVID-19 pandemic,” MBA Vice President of Commercial Real Estate Research Jamie Woodwell said.

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Black Knight, Inc. has introduced LoanCatcher, an all-in-one, cloud-based loan origination system.

Specifically designed for mortgage brokers, the system includes integrations with systems and solutions across the company’s origination products.

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The National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions has named a senior vice president, government affairs who brings over 20 years of experience to the role.

His responsibilities include leading the association’s legislative, political, regulatory, compliance assistance, research, and economic divisions.

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The Federal Housing Finance Agency and the U.S. Department of the Treasury have suspended four provisions of the preferred stock purchase agreements (PSPA) with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Enterprises).

In addition to suspending portions of the PSPAs, the agency also has issued a notice of proposed rulemaking related to amending the Enterprise regulatory capital framework rule.

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President Joe Biden has nominated a senior advisor for housing finance within the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to be the new head of Ginnie Mae.

The new nominee would be the first permanent leader of Ginnie Mae in almost five years, since President Ted Tozer resigned in 2017.

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The Federal Housing Finance Agency announced Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are to submit equitable housing finance plans to FHFA by the end of 2021, to be updated annually.

These plans will be used to identify and address barriers to sustainable housing opportunities. Annual progress reports also will be required.

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United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) has launched UWM Appraisal Direct, giving clients another option when ordering appraisals on UWM loans.

The program currently is in the pilot stage and will be released in all 50 states on Oct. 1, 2021.

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Envoy Mortgage has adopted an appraisal management system from Reggora, an appraisal software company, to assist in processing all loans requiring an appraisal.

Envoy said the integration is part of its “digital transformation” and investment in technology optimization to improve its overall lending solution.

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The Mortgage Bankers Association has appointed an associate vice president (AVP) of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).

The new AVP will be responsible for advancing DEI programs for the association and overall real estate finance industry.

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After more than three years since originally filed, the case against the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau regarding its 2017 payday lending rule has ended in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas.

U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel issued an order finding in favor of the bureau, but not without giving some leeway to the plaintiff associations.

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Consumer Financial Protection Bureau acting Director Dave Uejio discussed small businesses and the bureau’s proposed rule on gathering data on those seeking loans.

“We are taking the next step toward gathering critical data that is necessary to shine a spotlight on small-business lending,” Uejio said. “This data will be used to support business and community development and foster fair lending.”

For more details, read on.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has assessed Wells Fargo with a civil money penalty and issued a cease-and-desist order based on violations of a 2018 compliance consent order and the bank’s failure to establish an effective home lending loss mitigation program.

“Wells Fargo has not met the requirements of the OCC’s 2018 action against the bank. This is unacceptable,” acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu said.

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Agile, a financial technology company that is working on a single electronic platform for mortgage lenders and broker-dealers, has announced the launch of its request for quote platform.

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Zventus has launched a blockchain lab for the financial services industry.

It is an extension of the company’s global consulting, customized staffing solutions, technology, and outsourcing services.

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The Biden-Harris administration announced it is pushing for historic, long-term investments in new housing.

This movement is part of the administration’s Build Back Better agenda, a plan to invest in building new homes and making existing housing safer, healthier, and more energy efficient. While waiting for congressional approval, the White House gave several steps for federal agencies to take to ease the housing supply crunch.

To learn what steps are being taken, read on.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., along with the Federal Reserve Board and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, has released a guide to help community banks assess risk when considering relationships with financial technology (fintech) companies.

The guide covers six key areas of due diligence for community banks to consider when exploring arrangements with fintech companies and contains practical sources of information that may be useful during evaluation.

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Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.

Hsu addressed the agency’s priorities, key regulatory standards, and efforts to promote fairness and inclusion in the federal banking system. Hsu listed four issues that need immediate attention: guarding against complacency, reducing inequality, adapting to digitalization, and acting on climate change.

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SimpleNexus has been certified as an eClosing provider for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

For more details about the certification, read on.

Mid America Mortgage has added two to its ranks, one as a divisional director and another as a regional director. The two will assist in the continued growth of Mid America’s wholesale/nondelegated correspondent lending channel.

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MISMO has released a new dataset meant to improve the quality and consistency of mortgage asset data sent to the rating agencies and is seeking public comment.

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In a study conducted by the University of Texas, researchers found financial technology (fintech) lenders participating in the Paycheck Protection Program were more likely to be involved with suspicious loans.

The paper detailing the study was released just weeks after a report from The Bank for International Settlements warned of significant risk to the global financial system posed by a lack of sufficient regulations and supervision among fintechs.

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The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has issued a notice of proposed rulemaking on the data collection rule mandated by Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act.

The rule would require lenders to disclose information about their lending to small businesses, such as the amount and type of small-business credit applied for and extended, demographic information about small-business credit applicants, and key elements of the price of the credit offered.

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The Securities and Exchange Commission settled charges against Crews & Associates, Inc., an Arkansas-based broker-dealer, and its former CEO for unfair dealing.

The charges were related to a municipal bond tender offer in a West Virginia county, which was attempting to reduce the amount of its outstanding debt service with the company’s help.

For more details, read on.

Nomis Solutions has introduced product enhancements to its mortgage technology solution. These additions further improve the market intelligence and actionable pricing capabilities available to its mortgage lending clients, according to a company release.

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The National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions has named eight winners in its 2021 Annual Awards Competition, honoring member credit unions and credit union professionals and volunteers for excellence and achievement in the industry.

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The Mortgage Bankers Association National Delinquency Survey showed mortgage delinquencies decreased in the second quarter of 2021 for one-to-four-unit residential properties.

For purposes of the survey, and to take mortgages in COVID-19 forbearance into account, the organization asked servicers to report loans in forbearance as delinquent if the payment was not made on the original terms of the mortgage.

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The Federal Housing Finance Agency has released the reports on the 2020 and 2021 annual Dodd-Frank Act stress tests (DFAST) for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Enterprises).

The reports provide updated information on possible ranges of future financial results in the event of severely adverse economic conditions. This is the seventh and eighth DFAST for the Enterprises.

Read on for more details. 

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released a Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data report on residential mortgage lending trends in 2020.

The report is meant to assist the bureau in determining whether financial institutions are serving the housing credit needs of their local communities; facilitate public entities’ distribution of funds to local communities to attract private investment; and help identify possible discriminatory lending patterns and enforce anti-discrimination statutes.

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The Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) issued a comment to the Federal Reserve Board (the Fed) regarding its plans to update Regulation II, also known as the Durbin amendment, which limits interchange transaction fees for electronic debit transactions and rules for payment card transactions. 

“Ironically, the Durbin Amendment was intended to help consumers and small businesses, but in practice it has functioned as a subsidy for ‘big box’ retailers, ultimately harming consumers,” Mickey Marshall, ICBA director of regulatory affairs, wrote.

Read on for more details.

Fannie Mae’s Economic and Strategic Research group modestly downgraded its GDP and housing growth forecasts for the remainder of 2021. To find out why, read on.

The Mortgage Bankers Association’s Mortgage Credit Availability Index showed mortgage credit availability increased in July.

Read on for more details.

The National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions has elected its board chair and announced its 2021-2022 board of directors.

Read on for more details.