Compliance & Regulation

As we approach the holidays and into the New Year, the actions by the CFPB and FTC should be another wake-up call regarding mortgage compliance.

The CFPB’s complaints allege that both cases illegally charged upfront fees typically ranging between $1,000 and $4,500 from each distressed homeowner for services that rarely materialized.

Chicago is the first city in the country to agree to share information directly with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Consumer advocates and mortgage bond investors have alleged that banks and insurers grossly inflate the cost of such policies, overcharging struggling homeowners and investors by hundreds of millions of dollars.

Keep Your Home California will provide mortgage payment assistance to out-of-work homeowners regardless of whether federal extension benefits are extended into 2013.

Dwight Fettig, who has served as the panel's staff director since 2011, is expected to rejoin the lobbying firm Porterfield & Lowenthal.

Some banks will consider making lower FICO score loans as long as the applicant has substantial assets (or home equity) that can be tapped in the event of default.

HUD will interview current employees, ex-employees and borrowers to validate data or its findings.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said it would offer limited time exemptions from current federal disclosure laws in order for those companies to research and test informative, cost-effective disclosures.

The Senate Finance Committee has already passed a bill that extends 27 tax provisions that are due to expire at midnight on Dec. 31.