Law and regulation

The House voted 303 to 121 on Wednesday to pass a bill that would delay enforcement of new mortgage disclosures that went into effect on Oct. 3.

Despite their major push to overhaul the housing finance market last Congress, Sens. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and Mark Warner, D-Va., offered little optimism Tuesday that structural reform is on its way anytime soon.

If we can't identify adequate capital to bear mortgage credit losses when they are incurred, aren't we setting ourselves up for another series of bailouts in the next housing downturn?

The Mortgage Bankers Association is disappointed that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has not provided an explicit temporary safe harbor for lenders who have made a good-faith effort to implement new disclosures.

WASHINGTON — Federal examiners will expect institutions to show that they made a "good faith" effort in preparing for the implementation of the new integrated mortgage disclosures that go into effect on Oct. 3, regulators said in letters sent to industry groups on Thursday.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency is planning to issue a final rule in the next 12 months to require Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to better serve underserved markets, including manufactured housing, the agency said Thursday.

A handful of moderate Democrats are supporting a controversial bill to restructure the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and are expected to help the House Financial Services Committee approve the legislation.

Community bankers merit more regulatory relief, particularly those that hold mortgage originations. That was a key message from James Bullard, St. Louis Fed President, during a community banking conference in St. Louis hosted by the Federal Reserve Board and the Conference of State Bank Supervisors.

WASHINGTON — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is working with other regulators on examiner guidance to help ensure that the agencies enforce new mortgage disclosures in a "corrective" manner, not a "punitive" one, Director Richard Cordray said Tuesday.

With the implementation date for the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosures just days away, here's a look at some of the finishing touches the mortgage industry is making to its technology and training preparations.