Compliance & Regulation

In the recently released CFPB enforcement guide, the newly formed agency clearly announced that it expected lenders to begin to institutionalize compliance to enhance monitoring, training and avoidance of errors and complaints. Federal agencies are already beginning to internalize this self-policing perspective.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development indefinitely debarred three Florida loan officers and a Pittsburgh title agent following their criminal convictions for defrauding elderly borrowers, mortgage lenders and the Federal Housing Administration.

Joseph Smith, the man responsible for ensuring that five of the nation's largest banks comply with the massive multi-state mortgage servicing settlement, has a stark message for the five banks involved: make sure your internal review teams are independent and thorough.

Edward DeMarco, acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, said he is "deeply concerned" about underwater borrowers, but added that forbearance plans and short sales already serve as forms of principal reduction without saddling taxpayers with further losses.

Republicans on the House Financial Services Committee have made it clear they believe the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is already too big and needs to be cut down to size.

In a major setback for credit unions and banks, the Internal Revenue Service approved new rules that require depositories to report interest payments to nonresident aliens, starting in 2013.

Comptroller of the Currency Thomas Curry this week urged eligible borrowers to sign up for the OCC's foreclosure-review process, and suggested that homeowners who didn't like the results would still be able to sue their mortgage servicers later.

For more than a year, lenders have complained about the tough enforcement regime and controversial legal theories espoused by the Justice Department's fair lending unit.

Title agents are hoping the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will get tough on lenders that low-ball the initial costs they disclose to homebuyers and then surprise borrowers at the closing table with higher charges.

Until not too long ago eWarehouseOne had a policy: if a firm didn't pass the application review stage, the company would return the mortgage banker's money. At least that's what company vice president Anthony Simich told National Mortgage News last month.