Compliance

The Treasury Department has exceeded its authority by keeping Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in conservatorship so long and taking all their profits, two legislative experts said Thursday.

Banks have made progress cutting their exposure to risky home equity lines of credit, ahead of a key 10-year threshold when billions of dollars of them will reset to higher monthly payments. But there are some prominent exceptions, especially among regional banks.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Thursday proposed a series of regulatory relief measures for small institutions, especially those in rural areas, to help them provide credit while they try to follow the agency's tough mortgage rules.

Regulatory attention is supposed to be laser-focused on servicers right now, especially when it comes to how consistent they are in applying workouts. So regulators should be looking closely at whether loans have forbearance.

A judge rejected a bid by the U.S. to put on hold a series of suits by Fairholme Funds and other investors challenging the diversion of profits from Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae to the Treasury.

At a hearing Tuesday, GOP lawmakers hammered FHFA Director Mel Watt for four hours over his recent decisions to allow Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to buy loans with lower downpayments and provide money to two affordable housing trust funds.

Homeowners associations seeking unpaid dues are seizing on a court decision allowing them to foreclose on properties ahead of banks, and the FHFA is litigating to defend Fannie and Freddie mortgages. Private lenders, meanwhile, are trying to keep the problem from spreading to more states.

A majority of small bank executives are concerned about the impact of new regulations on their mortgage lending business, according to an industry trade group.

A California loan broker who defrauded investors of more than $17.4 million has been sentenced to five years in prison.

The Supreme Court gave borrowers the path to file a rescission notice without going to court, but experts expect more banks to initiate legal proceedings to stop rescissions they see as frivolous.

Consent decrees issued (and not issued) last week demonstrate how having appropriate compliance controls can and will make a major difference in any potential regulatory response.

California's Department of Business Oversight said Friday that it will drop its effort to suspend Ocwen Loan Servicing's mortgage license in California. The Atlanta servicer had failed for more than a year to provide its California regulator with requested information

The consumer bureau and Maryland's AG allege the loan officers received consumer data and other services in return for business referrals.

Hearing arguments in Texas case, Justice Scalia and others were skeptical that the controversial legal theory used in fair housing cases should be invalidated.

Five Star Bank is the latest financial institution to settle claims that it avoided lending to minorities. More redlining cases can be expected, industry experts say.

Ocwen Financial Corp. named two new members to its board of directors as the nonbank servicer works to repair its image in the eyes of regulators and investors.

Standard & Poor's is close to an agreement to pay $1.4 billion to settle claims by the Justice Department and states attorneys general that it inflated subprime mortgage-bond ratings before the financial crisis, according to two people with knowledge of the talks.

Standard & Poor’s agreed to a one-year suspension from rating certain commercial mortgage bonds and $80 million in fines to settle charges with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the New York and Massachusetts Attorneys Generals offices.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recently issued a report showing that nearly half of all mortgage borrowers did not comparison shop. Will additional disclosure help if consumers don't use it?

No matter if you are a large mortgage banker or a small mortgage broker, your employees in California are covered under this law that goes into effect on July 1.