By now, you’ve probably heard that PHH won their case against CFPB on the anti- kickback provision under RESPA. The $109 million fine imposed by CFPB Director, Richard Cordray, against PHH was also invalidated by the Court. That’s great news for PHH, but what about the rest of the industry? In the decision, the US Court of Appeals, District of…
CFPB published notice that the new Fannie/Freddie Uniform Residential Loan Application is approved as a model form under ECOA (Publication). CFPB’s Official Approval: Regulation B § 1002.5(b) provides rules concerning requests for information about race, color, religion, national origin, or sex. Section 1002.5(c) provides rules concerning requests for information about a spouse or former spouse. Section 1002.5(d) provides rules concerning…
Under the new HMDA rules, CFPB is requiring lenders to gather and report additional information on borrower age and ethnicity, along with loan and fee information. In line with these changes, Fannie and Freddie created a new improved Uniform Residential Loan Application (URLA) which will assist lenders in obtaining this information. (More Data) Under the new rules, a lender must…
In the last few elections, the topic of eliminating or at least curtailing the current mortgage interest deduction was put on the table. Up until now, it has been off limits. Could that be coming to an end? Studies show that this deduction mostly benefits those homeowners in the higher income brackets making in excess of $100,000 annually. Because of…
The 30 year average fixed rate mortgage loan remained at 3.42%, down from 3.76% a year ago. The 15-year rate averaged around 2.81%, down from 2.88% last year. These are still fantastic rates for refinances and purchases as we enter into the slow season in the housing markets. Lenders can still look to offset any declines in purchase volumes by…
Or, should I say settlements (plural)? This time, the Department of Justice settled two actions brought under the False Claims Act against two separate Utah-based lenders. The total settlement was close to $10 million. Primary Residential Mortgage (PRMI) agreed to pay $5 million while SecurityNational Mortgage (SNMC) chipped in another $4.25 million. Both are independent mortgage companies, not big banks…
