Compliance & Regulation

U.S. Bancorp Chief Executive Richard Davis should be happy that his company will escape having to pay a hefty fine for sloppy servicing practices, a fate that likely awaits the nation's top five mortgage servicers.

For the past few years there has been a constant barrage of negative news on loss mitigation. Neither borrowers, nor investors, nor servicers are happy with how the financial crisis has unfolded.

At the annual SourceMedia Mortgage Servicing Conference in Dallas, attendees concerned about the future of their industry discussed at length the pros and cons of recent regulatory changes and still pending rules and requirements they may have to abide with in the near future.

Relaxing regulatory parameters for "qualified residential mortgages" could significantly increase the percentage of loans that are exempt from risk retention, according to a new comment letter from Amherst Securities Group.

The Mortgage Bankers Association has stepped up its advocacy of electronic signatures, sending an open letter to the acting commissioner of the Federal Housing Administration requesting the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s home finance unit begin accepting e-signatures on all loan documents.

Ellie Mae has hired Parvesh Sahi to serve as vice president of compliance solutions, overseeing development of Ellie’s acquisition of compliance software provider Mavent.

The National Association of Mortgage Brokers this week confirmed that it has ended its legal challenge of the Federal Reserve Board's controversial rule on loan officer compensation and is looking at alternative ways of changing how LOs are paid.

While many industry groups are trying to block implementation of certain Dodd-Frank Act provisions, supporters of a private mortgage market should have a strong interest in having the risk retention regulations finalized, according to Sarah Rosen Wartell, a former FHA official in the Clinton Administration.

For less than $200 up front, Bank of America and Morgan Stanley might have saved themselves a combined $22 million, and a whole lot of embarrassment.

A group of strange bedfellows called on mortgage industry regulators to step back from a proposed rule that they say would stifle lending to all but the most well-heeled home buyers.