Law and regulation

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has ramped up its push for the mortgage industry to switch to an electronic closing process after results from a pilot program showed consumers favored it over in-person mortgage closing.

Lenders said the delay in implementing the combined loan and closing disclosures is giving them valuable added time to train their staff, according to a DocuTech survey.

Wells Fargo is ending some marketing arrangements with real estate firms and home builders over concerns about regulatory scrutiny.

Home Affordable Modification Program denial rates are still high, but the Treasury Department and top mortgage servicers contend that the numbers have improved.

The Federal Housing Administration is expected to rebuff a government watchdog report that blasted down payment assistance programs. The report has raised concerns that mortgage lenders would have to indemnify FHA for past loans, and that housing finance agencies would have the programs restructured.

Prospect Mortgage will end any activities being undertaken as part of marketing services agreements because of regulatory risk.

The House Financial Services Committee approved a bill that would delay the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's enforcement of the new TILA-RESPA integrated disclosure rules. It also approved two additional bills addressing the qualified mortgage rule and GSE executive compensation.

Regulators have given the merger between CIT Group and OneWest Bank the green light — so long as CIT comes up with a revised Community Reinvestment Act plan. This condition is good news for the low-income communities impacted by the merger and sets a strong precedent for regulators' review of future bank deals.

The Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program is renewing calls for further investigation of servicers it claims may be denying too many Home Affordable Modification Program applications.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is charging two companies affiliated with Western Union and Fidelity National Financial more than $38 million in total charges for allegedly steering consumers into a mortgage payment program that cost them millions of dollars in fees.

Lenders thrive with clear communication from the top executive and an operations team offered ample support.

The bankruptcy of Wingspan Portfolio Advisors epitomizes the existential crisis facing default servicing. This once-thriving sector of the mortgage industry now finds itself declining in lockstep with the drop in loan delinquencies and foreclosures.

Just a day after the Dodd-Frank Act's fifth anniversary, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Richard Shelby launched a new attempt to make significant changes to the law, attaching his regulatory relief bill to legislation that would provide funding for financial services agencies.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau named Meredith Fuchs, the agency's general counsel, to fill the bureau's No. 2 leadership soon to be vacated by Steven Antonakes.

WASHINGTON — The Senate Finance Committee voted Tuesday for a measure that would extend a temporary 10-basis point hike in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac guarantee fees for an additional four years.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has issued its final rule for the "Know Before You Owe" mortgage disclosure rule, which is also known as TILA-RESPA or TRID.

From CFPB and TRID to QM and ATR, the barrage of new abbreviations emanating from the Dodd-Frank Act has only been matched by the enormity of the changes it made to the mortgage industry. Here are 10 ways that the landmark financial reform legislation has reshaped the mortgage industry since becoming law five years ago.

Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said Monday that the Obama Administration will continue to defend the Dodd-Frank Act amid Republican efforts to water down the law, even as one of its namesakes suggested changes to it may be necessary.

Richard Green, director of the University of Southern California's Lusk Center for Real Estate, will serve as a senior FHA advisor on housing finance policy for one year.

As new foreign bank regulations push financial institutions to shed risk-weighted assets, companies like Barclays and RBS are reducing their roles in the mortgage-backed securities market. But reduced competition in this sector is bad for liquidity.