What Happened? A development with far-reaching consequences for the secondary market, on January 10, 2025, the Maryland Office of Financial Regulation (“OFR”) issued guidance that requires mortgage trusts and their assignees...more
What Happened? On August 11, 2024 the Department of Veterans Affairs (the “VA”) released Circular 26-24-17, clarifying how a servicer should process an assumption when there is secondary financing. Significantly, the VA...more
Welcome to the latest edition of the Spectrum, covering hot-topic issues in the structured finance markets in the U.S. and UK. This edition features the new UK securitization regime, eHELOCs, and climate risk disclosures....more
8/7/2024
/ Asset Management ,
Blockchain ,
Capital Markets ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Due Diligence ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Fees ,
FHFA ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Foreign Investment ,
Freddie Mac ,
Home Equity Line of Credit ,
Investors ,
Loans ,
Mortgages ,
Pilot Programs ,
Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) ,
Securities ,
Securitization ,
UK
What Happened? On July 10, 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) proposed a rule to amend provisions of its Mortgage Servicing Rules to significantly revamp requirements relating to borrowers...more
7/23/2024
/ Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Delinquent Borrowers ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Foreclosure ,
Loss Mitigation ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Mortgage Servicers ,
Mortgage Servicing Rules ,
Mortgages ,
Notice Requirements ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulation X
What Happened? On June 20, 2024, a group of federal regulators published a rule addressing for the use of automated valuation models (AVMs) in mortgage origination and secondary market transactions....more
7/1/2024
/ Compliance ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Dodd-Frank ,
FDIC ,
Federal Reserve ,
FHFA ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FIRREA ,
Loans ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Mortgages ,
OCC ,
Valuation
What Happened? In May 2024, the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC or Council) issued a Report on Nonbank Mortgage Servicing (the Report). The Report recognizes the strengths of nonbank mortgage companies (NMCs) and...more
What Happened? Following the release of the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) Report on Nonbank Mortgage Servicing, Ginnie Mae announced in APM 24-08 that certain large nonbank Ginnie Mae Issuers will now be...more
What Happened? The lender and consumers reached a settlement in an appraisal bias case, Nathan Connolly and Shani Mott v. Shane Lanham, 20/20 Valuations, LLC, and loanDepot.com, LLC, filed in Maryland District Court, that...more
4/26/2024
/ Appraisal ,
Bias ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Fair Housing Act (FHA) ,
Fair Valuation ,
Lenders ,
Loan Applications ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Mortgages ,
Settlement
What Happened? Both the FHA and VA have established new loss mitigation options to provide payment reduction to delinquent borrowers. On February 21, 2024, the Federal Housing Administration (“FHA”) within the U.S....more
What Happened? Immediately following President Biden’s State of the Union Address announcing plans to lower homebuyer and refinancing costs, the CFPB issued a blog post seeking public input on how mortgage closing costs...more
What Happened? On March 4, 2024, Ginnie Mae issued All Participant Memorandum (APM) 24-02 to impose a new cybersecurity incident notification requirement. Ginnie Mae has also amended its Mortgage-Backed Securities Guide to...more
A&B Abstract: In Case You Missed It: At the recent Federal Housing Finance Agency’s Symposium on Property Insurance, CFPB Director Rohit Chopra spoke about force-placed insurance and conveyed the following message: “The...more
A&B Abstract: On January 30, 2023, President Biden informed Congress that the COVID-19 National Emergency (the “COVID Emergency”) will be extended beyond March 1, 2023, but that he anticipates terminating the national...more
2/27/2023
/ CARES Act ,
Compliance ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Lenders ,
FHFA ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Forbearance Agreements ,
HUD ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Mortgage Servicers ,
Mortgages ,
Popular
A&B ABstract: Effective on approval by Governor Kathy Hochul on December 30, 2022, New York Assembly Bill 7737b – the Foreclosure Abuse Prevention Act (the “Act”) became law....more
A&B ABstract: A year and a half after President Biden’s announcement of the Interagency Task Force on Property Appraisal and Valuation Equity (“PAVE”), the past weeks have seen a flurry of activity from federal agencies and...more
A&B ABstract: On December 12, 2022, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced a proposed rule to require certain non-banks to register with the agency when they become subject to a public written order or...more
A&B ABstract: Mortgage assumptions – where a buyer assumes the existing mortgage loan of a seller – have fluctuated in popularity since the 1980s....more
A&B Abstract: On August 10, 2022, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (“FHFA”) announced that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the “GSEs”) will require mortgage servicers to obtain and maintain fair lending data on their loans,...more
A&B Abstract: On May 2, 2022, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signed HB 891 and SB 470 into law. HB 891, effective July 1, 2022, updates various laws enforced by the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance (the “Department”)...more
A&B Abstract: On May 24, 2022, Connecticut enacted legislation that, among other things, adds financial condition and corporate governance requirements for certain licensed mortgage servicers (the “CT Standards”). In similar...more
As part of the Biden Administration’s stated focus on narrowing the racial gap in wealth and homeownership, federal agencies launched an Interagency Task Force on Property Appraisal and Valuation Equity (PAVE), with the goal...more
3/17/2022
/ Appraisal ,
Biden Administration ,
Congressional Committees ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Fannie Mae ,
Freddie Mac ,
HUD ,
Lenders ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Mortgages ,
Race Discrimination ,
Regulation Z ,
Residential Real Estate Market ,
Veterans Administration
Please join Alston & Bird's consumer finance attorneys and an economist from Charles River Associates as they discuss new legal and practical approaches to fair lending, fair valuations, and fair servicing. This program will...more
1/21/2022
/ Appraisal ,
Appraisal Management Companies ,
Best Practices ,
Bias ,
Continuing Legal Education ,
Fair Lending ,
Fair Valuation ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Mortgage Servicers ,
Mortgages ,
Real Estate Transactions ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Webinars
A&B Abstract: Today, the Biden Administration announced an extension of the foreclosure moratorium for federally-backed mortgage loans (the “Presidential Announcement”). ...more
A&B ABstract: On April 1, 2021, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB” or “Bureau”) issued a Compliance Bulletin and Policy Guidance (the “Bulletin”) on the Bureau’s supervision and enforcement priorities with...more
A&B Abstract: The Conference of State Bank Supervisors (“CSBS”) proposed regulatory prudential standards (the “Standards”) to develop a consistent regulatory structure of nonbank mortgage servicers. Comments on all aspects...more