Archive:March 2013

1
Senators Attempt to Chip Away at Housing Reform with “Jumpstart GSE Reform Act” and Budget Amendment
2
Federal Reserve Staff Offer UDAP Guidance
3
CFPB Issues Fair Lending Guidance for Indirect Auto Lenders
4
CFPB Provides Guidance on Mortgage Servicing Transfers

Senators Attempt to Chip Away at Housing Reform with “Jumpstart GSE Reform Act” and Budget Amendment

By: Kristie D. Kully, Andrew L. Caplan

Senators Bob Corker (R-TN), Mark Warner (D-VA), David Vitter (R-LA), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) have introduced legislation that, if enacted, may make a partial dent in the U.S. housing reform effort. The “Jumpstart GSE Reform Act” (the “Legislation”), introduced on March 14 in the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs (the “Senate Banking Committee”), would prevent any increase in guarantee fees (“g-fees”) imposed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the “GSEs”) from offsetting other government spending. The Legislation would also prohibit the sale of GSE preferred stock by the United States Treasury (the “Treasury”) without Congressional approval and structural housing finance reform. Furthermore, on March 22, Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD), chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, offered a bipartisan amendment (the “Amendment”) to the Senate budget that would prohibit Congress from using g-fee increases to offset additional government spending. The Amendment was agreed to in the Senate by unanimous consent. Although this budget will not become law, the Amendment shows growing support for this issue. Read More

Federal Reserve Staff Offer UDAP Guidance

By: Soyong Cho , David I. Monteiro

On Tuesday, March 5, senior staff with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco presented a webinar on the prohibitions on unfair and deceptive practices under the Dodd-Frank Act and the Federal Trade Commission Act, and presented a number of case studies and compliance pointers, based on the Federal Reserve’s own enforcement and investigatory matters. Read More

CFPB Issues Fair Lending Guidance for Indirect Auto Lenders

By: Melanie Brody , Stephanie C. Robinson

On March 21, 2013, the CFPB issued CFPB Bulletin 2013-02: Indirect Auto Lending and Compliance with the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. In this bulletin, the CFPB describes its understanding of how the indirect auto lending industry works, and describes its view on how ECOA applies to indirect auto lending—including its theory on lender liability for disparities in dealer markups. The guidance offers advice to bank and nonbank indirect auto lenders within the CFPB’s jurisdiction on how they can limit their indirect auto fair lending risk. Read More

CFPB Provides Guidance on Mortgage Servicing Transfers

By: Jonathan D. Jaffe , Amanda D. Gossai

The CFPB recently released a Bulletin directed to residential mortgage servicers and subservicers (servicers). The purpose of the Bulletin is to put servicers on notice that the CFPB intends to focus its supervisory process on mortgage loan servicing transfers. If the CFPB determines that a transferor or transferee servicer has engaged in any acts or practices that are unfair, deceptive, or abusive, or that otherwise violate federal consumer financial laws and regulations (including RESPA, FCRA, and FDCPA), the CFPB indicated its intent to take appropriate supervisory and enforcement actions and seek all appropriate corrective measures, including remediation of harm to consumers. Read More

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