My recent blog on the CHOICE Act talked about what’s broken in Washington, DC. Here’s a little more detail on the political wrangling that went on behind the scenes when the CHOICE Act went before the House Financial Services Committee for markup. (CHOICE) The Democrats decision to offer no alternatives or amendments to the proposals in the ACT, although unusual,…
In June, House Financial Services Committee Chair, Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), introduced legislation to roll back Dodd-Frank. This legislation, H.R. 5983, is known as the Financial CHOICE Act (Creating Hope and Opportunity for Investors, Consumers, and Entrepreneurs). Cute. Do they have people in Washington whose sole responsibility is to come up with these little ditties as acronyms for legislation? I wonder.…
Same old song. This time to the tune of $52.4 million paid by Regions Financial Corporation of Birmingham, AL to HUD settling an action brought under the False Claims Act by the Department of Justice (DOJ). Under this settlement, Regions acknowledged it made and certified FHA insured loans that did not meet all required underwriting criteria. As a result, FHA-insured…
UBS Real Estate Securities suffered a major setback recently when US District Judge, Kevin Castel, ruled on a breach of warranties by UBS in connection with securities backed by loans sold to U.S. Bank. In the suit, US Bank, acting as trustee, is suing UBS for damages of more than $2 billion (Defective Loans). That could have paid for quite…
Some now believe that independent mortgage lenders cannot survive strictly by originating mortgage loans. They believe such lenders need to expand their business lines to include other financial products desired and needed by consumers. (Survival) For years, large Banks have moved in and out of mortgage lending depending on rates and risks, developing and offering other financial products and services…
We hear this quite often but it is so true when it comes to the future of mortgage lending. Aside from the changes resulting from regulatory and agency requirements, the industry is evolving quickly into the digital age. What might the future bring? National Mortgage News, as part of its 40th Anniversary, has made some pretty bold predictions. In case…
