On April 14, 2016, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced two changes concerning its policies affecting delinquent mortgage loans: first, it announced that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will offer mortgage principal reductions to certain borrowers who are seriously delinquent and underwater, and second, it announced new enhancements to…
On March 31, 2016 the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued a white paper setting forth its vision of responsible innovation, and signaling its increasing involvement in the financial technology (Fintech) space. The white paper, titled “Supporting Responsible Innovation in the Federal Banking System: An OCC Perspective,”…
In a March 23, 2016 proposal titled “A More Promising Road to GSE Reform“, several prominent policy commentators recently outlined their suggested plan for reforming the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) and the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), which—according to these analysts—are “two enormously important yet flawed institutions”…
On March 15, 2016, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) announced final changes to its loan-level certification form, 92900-A HUD/VA Addendum to the Uniform Residential Loan Application. The announcement represents important and highly-anticipated changes to the FHA’s required certification. The FHA’s loan-level certification form, which the lender completes for every loan…
On March 7, 2016, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it will begin collecting complaints from consumers about online marketplace lenders, signaling its intention to increasingly regulate the evolving and growing Financial Technology (Fintech) industry. The CFPB announcement emphasized that marketplace lending is “a relatively new kind of…
On February 23, 2016, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Richard Cordray delivered prepared remarks (click link for full text) regarding CFPB regulation of credit unions to the Credit Union National Association. The crux of Director Cordray’s remarks was that the CFPB has affirmatively decided not to exclude credit unions from CFPB…
On February 18, 2016, the CFPB released its final policy regarding the issuance of No-Action Letters (NALs). While some in the industry question the efficacy of the new policy, lenders and other consumer financial service providers should be aware of the policy so they can utilize it if and when…
On January 28, 2016, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) published its monthly consumer complaint snapshot, identifying the most recent trends in consumer complaints about various financial products and services. CFPB Monthly Complaint Rep., Jan. 2016, at 1. The report analyzes trends by complaint volume by product, state, and company. Id. at 3-10….
On February 3, 2016, in conjunction with a Field Hearing held the same day concerning deposit accounts, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a compliance bulletin on the duties of furnishers of information to maintain adequate policies and procedures that comply with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) (15…
Scrutiny of the CFPB’s auto-lending supervision and enforcement practices was renewed last week when Republicans on the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services issued another scathing report criticizing the agency, this time focusing on its handling of the distribution of the Ally Financial auto-lending settlement funds. Concurrently with…
On December 9, 2015, the House Financial Services Committee reported a Bill to Congress that would impact the cybersecurity compliance of financial services companies. The Bill, H.R. 2205, would set standards for development and implementation of cybersecurity protocols; require investigation and notification of breaches; and allow administrative enforcement. One of…
On November 24, 2015, Republicans on the House Financial Services Committee released a report sharply criticizing the CFPB’s methodology for enforcing the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) with regard to indirect automobile lending. The report, entitled, “Unsafe at Any Bureaucracy: CFPB Junk Science and Indirect Auto Lending,” adds to the…
A month has passed since the new TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure (“TRID” or “Know Before You Owe”) requirements went into effect on October 3, 2015, and while the transition has not been completely smooth, it has gone better than many expected. Below is a recap of some of the issues that…
Arguably the most pressing topic at this year’s Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Regulatory Compliance Conference (held on September 20-22, 2015 in Washington, D.C.) was the implementation of the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure (TRID) Rule, which will take effect on October 3, 2015. While industry leaders at the conference generally seemed to accept…
A U.S. District Judge in the Northern District of Illinois recently granted summary judgment in favor of defendant PNC Bank on a borrower’s promissory estoppel and Illinois Consumer Fraud Act (ICFA) claims in connection with PNC’s HAMP procedures. In its August 25, 2015 decision the court found that PNC’s actions…
On August 24, 2015, the Third Circuit affirmed the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey’s denial of a motion to dismiss in FTC v. Wyndham Worldwide Corp. In Wyndham, the Federal Trade Commission brought suit against Wyndham in the wake of three cybersecurity attacks that allegedly…
On August 3, 2015, the 11th Circuit held in Ewing Industries Corp. v. Bob Wines Nursery, Inc., No. 14-13842, 2015 WL 4605234 (11th Cir. Aug. 3, 2015) that the pendency of a purported class action does not toll the limitations period for a later class action seeking to represent the same…
Last week, the Seventh Circuit reversed its prior circuit precedent regarding whether a Rule 68 offer of judgment moots a case. In Chapman v. First Index, Inc., the Seventh Circuit considered the question of mootness as well as whether the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois erred…
On July 9, 2015, the CFPB published a set of Consumer Protection Principles it believes should guide the financial industry in the development of newer, faster methods of payment. These Principles, though merely suggestions, may help members of the financial industry anticipate the expectations of their regulators and develop new…
On July 10, 2015, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released its TCPA Omnibus Declaratory Ruling and Order. We wrote about this order on June 29, previewing the FCC’s focus on consumers’ ability to opt out of certain calls, its reiteration of its definition of what constitutes an autodialer, and its…