Compliance & Regulation

The House of Representatives this week passed legislation that protects confidential information banks and thrifts submit to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau - but it appears nonbanks operating in certain states are not covered under the language.

The firm’s Mortgage Fraud Risk Report found that incidents of employment and income fraud increased 14% during 2011. This follows an upward trend seen over the last two years in which these fraud activities occurred 45% of the time.

Although Wells Fargo & Co. won't talk about its 'exclusionary' list of third-party lenders, correspondent loan buyers doing business with some of the firms say they wound up on the list mostly because of buyback disputes with the megabank.

Federal Reserve Board member Elizabeth Duke in a recent speech highlighted how the focus of government-assisted community development has shifted to preserving and disposing of existing housing from building new housing.

The House Financial Services Committee Tuesday approved a bill to enhance the FHA's authority to police bad lenders after rejecting an amendment that would have reduced the agency's loan guarantees.

Raj Date, the deputy director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, assured financial industry representatives Tuesday that the agency is carefully weighing access to consumer credit as it finalizes the qualified mortgage rule.

Appraisals are costing bankers more money and, in some cases, business. Recent regulation has altered the fee structure and required more independence between bankers and appraisers.

Credit union representatives wasted no time recently when they had the opportunity to line up to ask questions of-and criticize-the National Credit Union Administration and its examiners, with one person saying his most recent exam was practically an "interrogation."

Only three of the top 10 states with the most tornados from 1980 to 2009 currently are in the so-called Tornado Alley, according to a new CoreLogic tornado and hail risk report. The change, however, is not an anomaly, as everyone believed.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau plans on taking a close look at the Federal Reserve's controversial loan officer compensation rule and will issue a new proposal "soon" according to a top official at the young agency.