Since 2008, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has drastically increased its use of the False Claims Act (FCA) to go after what say are bad actors in FHA mortgage lending. Since 2009, they have collected fines and penalties totaling more than $7 billion. That ain’t chump change. Many banks discontinued making FHA loans and some nonbank lenders became increasingly more…
Category: Mortgage Compliance
Posts on mortgage compliance and industry regulation including TRID, HMDA, and MERS.
Does the FHFA Language Question Create a Slippery Slope?
As I mentioned in a previous post, FHFA is still considering adding a question to the new Uniform Residential Loan Application (URLA). The question would ask the applicant to indicate their ‘preferred language.’ The industry fears that this may open up a whole new regulatory can of worms. FHFA believes knowing this information will aid the lender and, ultimately, the…
CFPB QM/ATR Assessment
Hey, did I tell you that the CFPB is in process of their required review of the effects of the QM/ATR rules implemented under Dodd-Frank? Well, they are! CFPB is looking into several lending areas to determine to successes or failures of the new rules. They’ll be reviewing quantitative data for loan originations, default rates, and loan performance. The data…
Did You Comment on FHFA’s LEP Borrower Proposals?
Did you know that the Federal Housing Financing Agency (FHFA) put out a Request for Input for Improving Language Access in Mortgage Lending and Servicing? You should respond because what they propose may have a drastic impact on how mortgage lending and servicing is done in the future. The gist of the proposal is to explore ways to better…
Fannie Expands the Credit Box Again
Fannie Mae announced that they are expanding their DU credit box to accept/approve mortgage loans up to 50% total DTI (Debt to Income) ratio, as of July 29th. Some see this as a good thing. This means that Fannie will approve loans where the borrowers total recurring monthly debt payments, including the new mortgage payment, equal to 50% of their…
ABA’s; Light at the end of the Tunnel
Looks as though you can fight City Hall! In what may become a landmark decision, Judge Charles R. Simpson III, of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of KY, ruled in favor of a small Louisville, KY, law firm against Richard Cordray, and the powerful Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The case reversed CFPB’s actions against Borders & Borders…