In January 2025 the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued Mortgagee Letter 2025-06 revising servicing and claims requirements and loss mitigation options for FHA insured mortgage loans effective...more
4/23/2025
/ Borrowers ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Federal Housing Administration (FHA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
HUD ,
Loss Mitigation ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Mortgage Servicers ,
Mortgagee Letters ,
Mortgages ,
New Regulations ,
Real Estate Transactions ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Requirements
Legislation to prohibit so-called “trigger leads” in the homebuying process once again has been reintroduced in the House and Senate....more
4/16/2025
/ Borrowers ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Reporting Agencies ,
Credit Reports ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Lead Generators ,
Lenders ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Mortgages ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Real Estate Transactions ,
Regulatory Agenda
The CFPB has announced that Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) Modified Loan Application Register (LAR) data for 2024 are now available on the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council’s (FFIEC) HMDA Platform for...more
4/8/2025
/ Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Data Collection ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
FFIEC ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
HMDA ,
Loan Applications ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Mortgages ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements
The CFPB has taken action against the Draper & Kramer Mortgage Corp. (DKMC) based on allegations of discriminatory lending activities that, according to the CFPB, discouraged homebuyers from applying to the company for home...more
1/28/2025
/ Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Discriminatory Lending Practices ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fair Lending ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Non-Bank Lenders ,
Race Discrimination ,
Redlining
Led by the California Mortgage Bankers Association, five lenders have made commitments to provide mortgage relief for the victims of the California wildfires....more
1/23/2025
/ Banking Sector ,
Banks ,
California ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Foreclosure ,
Loans ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Mortgages ,
Real Estate Market ,
Relief Measures ,
Wildfires
As previously reported, this summer the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) filed a housing discrimination charge under the Fair Housing Act against an appraisal company, individual appraiser, appraisal...more
12/18/2024
/ Appraisal ,
Appraisers ,
Declaratory Judgments ,
Discriminatory Lending Practices ,
Disparate Impact ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fair Housing Act (FHA) ,
Housing Market ,
HUD ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Mortgages ,
Race Discrimination ,
Statutory Violations ,
Truth in Lending Act (TILA)
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently announced the 2025 loan limits for FHA insured forward mortgage loans and FHA insured Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECMs). The announcements were made...more
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) recently announced the conforming loan limits for residential mortgage loans acquired by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in 2025. Fannie Mae addresses the limits in Lender Letter...more
Following lengthy litigation, the CFPB is attempting to close the books on its case against Townstone Financial alleging discriminatory lending practices and redlining African American neighborhoods in Chicago....more
11/7/2024
/ Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Discriminatory Lending Practices ,
ECOA ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fair Lending ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Mortgages ,
Redlining ,
Settlement
As interest rates drop, the CFPB is exploring ways to streamline mortgage rules to make the refinancing process easier and closing costs less expensive, Director Rohit Chopra said at a housing conference sponsored by the...more
9/25/2024
/ Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Federal Housing Administration (FHA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Homeowner's Insurance ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Mortgage Servicers ,
Mortgages ,
Refinancing
On August 29, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Center (“FinCEN”) published Anti-Money Laundering Regulations for Residential Real Estate Transfers (“Final Rule”) regarding residential real estate. The Federal Register...more
9/11/2024
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Beneficial Owner ,
BSA/AML ,
Final Rules ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinCEN ,
Money Laundering ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Real Estate Transactions ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Risk Assessment ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs)
As previously reported, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in connection with single-family residential mortgage loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), and Fannie Mae and Freddie...more
8/8/2024
/ Consumer Financial Products ,
Fannie Mae ,
Federal Housing Administration (FHA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Freddie Mac ,
HECM ,
HUD ,
Loans ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Mortgagee Letters ,
Mortgages
The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) recently finalized in Mortgage Letter 2024-14, dated July 10, 2024, a revision to its Defect Taxonomy to clarify that fraud or material misrepresentation involving a sponsored...more
The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) recently finalized enhancements to its 203(k) rehabilitation mortgage loan program in Mortgagee Letter 2024-13. This action follows the FHA proposing enhancements to the program last...more
Federal banking regulators recently began adopting a final rule that requires, among other things, supervised mortgage originators and secondary market issuers to ensure that automated valuation models they use follow quality...more
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) recently proposed rules under its home loan guaranty program regarding adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) loans, hybrid ARM (h-ARM) loans and temporary buydown agreements. Comments are...more
6/25/2024
/ Adjustable-Rate Mortgage ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Department of Veterans Affairs ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Interest Rates ,
Loans ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulation Z ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure Rule (TRID) ,
Veterans
On June 17, 2024, FHA announced in draft Mortgage Letter 2024-12 a proposed revision to its Defect Taxonomy to clarify that fraud or material misrepresentation involving a sponsored Third-Party Originator (TPO) is a Tier 1...more
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), recently issued a Request for Information (RFI) related to fees charged by providers of mortgages and related settlement services. In his statement, Director Chopra discussed...more
6/19/2024
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Closing Costs ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Credit Reporting Agencies ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Mortgages ,
Request For Information ,
TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure Rule (TRID) ,
Truth in Lending Act (TILA)
In Mortgagee Letter 2024-10, FHA announced a requirement for FHA approved lenders to notify the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) of Significant Cybersecurity Incidents. The Mortgagee Letter, which is...more
5/28/2024
/ Consumer Financial Products ,
Cybersecurity ,
Fair Housing Act (FHA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
HUD ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Mortgagee Letters ,
Mortgages ,
NIST ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Reporting Requirements
As previously reported, bills were introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives (H.R. 7297) and U.S. Senate (S. 3502) to amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) to curtail the practice of trigger leads with mortgage...more
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently issued a press release announcing a 2023 update to its Equity Action Plan. The Equity Action Plan is part of HUD’s efforts to implement President Biden’s...more
2/19/2024
/ Consumer Financial Products ,
Fair Housing Act (FHA) ,
Fannie Mae ,
FHFA ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Freddie Mac ,
HUD ,
Loans ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Mortgages ,
Race Discrimination ,
Racial Bias
The CFPB and Justice Department filed a joint complaint last week in a Texas federal district court against Colony Ridge Development, LLC and three related entities (collectively, “Colony Ridge”) in which the agencies allege...more
12/28/2023
/ Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
ECOA ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
ILSA ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Mortgages ,
Predatory Lending ,
Statutory Violations
The CFPB recently released results of a study of residential mortgage refinance loans from the first quarter of 2013 to the first quarter of 2023, focusing on differences between cash-out and non-cash-out (or rate and term)...more
Bills have been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives (H.R. 4198) and the U.S. Senate (S. 3502) to amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) to curtail the practice of trigger leads with mortgage loans....more
12/20/2023
/ Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Reporting Agencies ,
Credit Reports ,
Credit Unions ,
Depository Institutions ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Mortgages ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Real Estate Transactions ,
Regulatory Agenda
The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) recently proposed enhancements to its 203(k) rehabilitation mortgage loan program. The proposed enhancements are set forth in a draft Mortgagee Letter. FHA will accept feedback on the...more