Enforcement

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has filed charges against three California-based home loan modification companies and nine of their employees for allegedly violating the Fair Housing Act.

Independent mortgage lenders are expecting a wave of consolidation prompted by excessive compliance costs, a tepid housing recovery and the need for more capital to grow their businesses. Roughly 20% to 25% of independent companies could be eliminated or change hands in less than two years.

President Obama's administration, citing concern about the origin of funds used for all-cash purchases of luxury real estate, said it is stepping up scrutiny of transactions in New York and Miami.

Recent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau enforcement actions against lead generation companies emphasize the breadth of lenders' responsibility for the third parties they expose borrower clients to.

WASHINGTON — JPMorgan Chase and EverBank were released from business restrictions stemming from the foreclosure reviews that originated in 2011, but also face new civil money penalties for their earlier violations of those restrictions, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said Tuesday.

All servicers that are part of the national mortgage settlement — except Ocwen Financial — passed metrics testing in the first half of the year, according to the settlement's monitor.

The new mortgage disclosures are not expected to have a large impact on origination volume, but could have a sizable effect on lenders' processes.

Mortgage lenders and servicers weary from a raft of regulatory changes in recent years may see some respite in 2016, but still face some tough issues ahead. Here's the most pressing.

The Morgan Stanley settlement follows a similar agreement with Barclays Capital in October that resulted in a recovery of $325 million.

Calvin Hagins, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's deputy assistant director for originations, warned mortgage lenders this week about four contentious areas that its examiners will zero in on next year.