CFPB – Page 7 – Consumer Financial Services Watch

CFPB Releases Fair Lending Report to Congress

May 05 2014

*Ms. Garg is a Law Clerk and is not admitted to practice law.

CFPB (the “Bureau”) released a report to Congress on its fair lending activities on April 30, 2014. The report highlights the activities of the Office of Fair Lending and Equal Opportunity from July 21, 2012 through December 31, 2013. It provides an overview of the Bureau’s supervision activities and highlights the data collection activities of the Bureau in the areas of mortgage lending, auto finance, and other credit markets. The report explains how the Bureau uses its complaint database, along with regular supervision programs, in order to prioritize its fair lending activities. It also highlights recent CFPB bulletins on indirect auto lending and HMDA reporting.

CFPB Criticized For Failure to Provide Information Related to Indirect Auto Lending Activities

Mar 10 2014

By: Melanie Brody, Tori K. Shinohara

On Friday, the Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee wrote a letter to Director Cordray chastising the CFPB for its continued refusal to provide meaningful responses to Congressional requests for information about the Bureau’s supervision and enforcement activities related to indirect auto lending. In the letter, Chairman Hensarling cites five instances of Congressional requests for information related to the CFPB’s indirect auto activities over the past year that have been not been satisfied. He criticizes the Bureau’s “pattern of obfuscation” related to Congressional requests for information and contends that the CFPB has created “unnecessary uncertainty” within the auto lending market. Read More

CFPB Publishes New Mortgage Servicing Exam Procedures

Feb 18 2014

By: Nanci L. Weissgold, Kerri M. Smith, Christopher Shelton*

*Mr. Shelton is not admitted to the practice of law in the District of Columbia.

The CFPB has released updated exam procedures for reviewing mortgage servicers, incorporating the Mortgage Servicing Rules (“the Rules”) that became effective on January 10, 2014. These updated exam procedures still focus on nine major modules covering routine servicing, default servicing, and foreclosure. However, they frequently cross-reference the TILA and RESPA exam procedures that were updated in November 2013 to reflect the Rules. Because of the overlap in coverage and the reliance on cross-referencing, the updated servicing exam procedures are shorter than the prior version of the CFPB’s Examination Manual, although there are some notable additions. Read More

CFPB to Supervise Nonbank Servicers of Student Loans

Dec 09 2013

By: Stephanie C. Robinson

On December 3, 2013, the CFPB issued a rule allowing the Bureau to supervise certain nonbank student loan servicers. Student loans represent the second-largest consumer debt market in the country after mortgage loans, and the two industries face similar problems. For instance, many consumers are seeking student loan modifications, just as many consumers are seeking mortgage loan modifications. In fact, the most common type of consumer complaint the CFPB has received about student loan servicing relates to borrowers trying to adjust their repayment terms in times of hardship. The CFPB estimates that 7 million student loan borrowers are in default on their debt. Read More

What’s Old is New: CFPB Claims Captive Reinsurance Arrangements Violate RESPA

Nov 19 2013

By: Phillip L. Schulman, Andrew L. Caplan

Last week, the CFPB announced the filing of a complaint and proposed consent order with a North Carolina-based private mortgage insurer, Republic Mortgage Insurance Corporation (“RMIC”), which echoes previous enforcement positions taken years ago by HUD and state regulators. In this most recent enforcement action, the CFPB alleges that RMIC violated Section 8 of RESPA (the “anti-kickback” provision) through participation in captive reinsurance programs with mortgage lenders. These business arrangements are once again under scrutiny in 2013, as last week’s complaint and proposed consent order with RMIC marks the fifth such enforcement action this year. Read More

Affiliated Business Arrangements Remain a Target for the CFPB under RESPA

Oct 30 2013

By: Holly Spencer Bunting

After announcing two RESPA consent orders in June 2013 targeting affiliated business arrangements (“AfBAs”), the CFPB is again taking aim at AfBAs. In a lawsuit filed in federal district court in Kentucky, the CFPB alleges that a law firm and three of its attorney principals gave impermissible referral fees to owners and managers of real estate and mortgage brokerage companies through profit distributions made by title insurance AfBAs owned by the attorneys and the real estate and mortgage brokerage companies. Because the CFPB alleges these AfBAs were not structured according to RESPA’s requirements, the CFPB is seeking to disgorge all monies received by the attorneys related to settlement services provided in connection with referrals, including profit distributions from the AfBAs. Read More

Mortgage Servicers: Don’t Forget ECOA’s Valuation Rule

Oct 21 2013

By: Nanci L. Weissgold, Kerri M. Smith

Mortgage loan servicers are toiling away at executing all the new servicing requirements in the CFPB’s Regulation Z and Regulation X amendments by the January 10, 2014 deadline. Given this overwhelming task, it is understandable that some servicers may not be as familiar with the CFPB’s ECOA Valuation Rule amending Regulation B. The Rule, which imposes an obligation to furnish a copy of valuations to borrowers of first-lien loans and to provide notice to borrowers of this right, may apply to a servicer’s loss mitigation efforts.

CFPB Brings First Action for Violations of Loan Originator Compensation Rule

Jul 25 2013

By: Jonathan D. Jaffe, Rebecca Lobenherz

On July 23, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) sued a national mortgage lender and two of its officers for allegedly violating Regulation Z’s loan originator compensation rule (the LO Comp Rule or the Rule) by paying bonuses to employees for steering borrowers to loans with higher interest rates. (See here.) The case was referred to the CFPB by investigators with the Utah Department of Commerce, Division of Real Estate. This is the first publicly announced judicial action the CFPB has brought enforcing the Rule. Read More

Cordray Confirmed as Director of CFPB

Jul 18 2013

By: Kristie D. Kully, *Nathan Pysno
*Mr. Pysno is admitted only in Maryland / Not admitted in D.C.

On July 16, 2013, the Senate confirmed Richard Cordray as the first Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The 66-34 vote to confirm Cordray ends nearly two years of uncertainty over his position. Read More

CFPB’s RESPA Radar Pointed at Affiliated Business Arrangements

By: Holly Spencer Bunting

Have you been wondering whether the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) is focusing its enforcement efforts on the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (“RESPA” or “Act”)? After the public announcement of two RESPA-related consent orders, the answer is yes. And, given the alleged facts of the most-recent settlement, that focus is on a familiar topic – affiliated business arrangements.

To read the full alert, click here.

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