Compliance & Regulation

Taylor, Bean & Whitaker's former chairman and CEO, Lee Farkas, led a $2.9 billion mortgage fraud scheme during the housing crash but was released early from prison due to susceptibility of COVID-19 transmission.

The future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the Fed’s supervisory regime for the biggest financial institutions, reform of the Community Reinvestment Act and a host of other industry-related issues are on the ballot this November.

Electronic notes did come in handy this year given the mortgage industry's need to operate remotely, but they also increase the government-sponsored enterprises' responsibility for monitoring the risk of multiple counterparties.

The proposals offer lenders both cause for celebration and for concern.

Legislation favorable to the industry would be unlikely to pass in a divided Congress, but the biggest benefit for banks and credit unions of Republicans' retaining control of the chamber would be defending against the disruption of a Democratic blue wave.

The company's outgoing CFO discussed ways the asset cap is stunting growth, but provided no updates at an industry conference on when the restriction might be lifted or the types of jobs it will cut.

Many states currently have temporary work-from-home guidance for licensed mortgage professionals that extends through at least Dec. 31, but some have fall expiration dates.

The financial industry has praised the measured approach taken in a pending regulation on permitted communications with consumers. But two recent complaints by the bureau against debt collectors reflect a potentially aggressive enforcement stance.

The GSEs began sharing their risk with the private market in new ways during conservatorship, and the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s proposed capital framework currently discourages the use of those strategies. Industry leaders voiced concerns in a FHFA listening session this week.

The final version of the amended rule, like the original proposal, makes fair lending claims tougher to prove; but it does soften language that otherwise might have allowed mortgage companies to use algorithms to prove nondiscrimination.