An Inside Look as a Juror - FCRA Focus Podcast
In an effort to help struggling borrowers stay in their homes, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (“HUD” or “Department”) Federal Housing Administration (“FHA”) recently introduced its newest loss mitigation...more
Amidst soaring interest rates and the recent swell in commercial real estate loan workouts, borrowers and lenders alike are increasingly considering an alternative to the traditional and sometimes long and cumbersome...more
In Montaquila v. Flagstar Bank, the Rhode Island Supreme Court rejected a borrower's attempt to expand the plain language of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) federal regulation requiring loan...more
On May 15, the Mortgage Bankers Association, the National Association of Home Builders, and the National Association of Realtors filed a joint amici curiae (friend of the court) brief in connection with the case challenging...more
Today’s high interest rate environment presents a challenge to many commercial real estate borrowers whose loans are now reaching maturity. Some borrowers are unable to repay their loans, while others are approaching the loan...more
The Federal Housing Administration recently issued Mortgagee Letter 2022-23, establishing a new COVID-19 Home Equity Conversion Mortgage Property Charge Repayment Plan. The COVID-19 HECM Property Charge Repayment Plan would...more
As fears of a recession grow, it would be prudent for everyone—servicers and regulators alike—to think hard about default servicing improvements and reforms. More than two years after the COVID-19 pandemic took hold of the...more
[co-authors: Amelie Hopkins, and Collin Grier] The year 2021 started with the hope of COVID-19 vaccines and a return to (relative) normalcy, only to conclude with new variants that presented new challenges and extended...more
In This Issue. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a proposed rule about the establishment of a limited-duration pilot program for sharing suspicious activity reports (SARs); FinCEN published the final...more
On October 4, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced on its website that the deadline to request initial forbearance for a COVID-19 hardship for loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration (HUD/FHA),...more
In This Issue. The House of Representatives voted to pass a Congressional Review Act resolution repealing the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s (OCC) “true lender” rule; the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau...more
March 13, 2021, marked the one-year anniversary of President Trump's declaring COVID-19 a national emergency. Through the CARES Act, agency action and guidance, and various state laws and executive orders, governments across...more
In This Issue. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed a new rule that would establish a revised framework for the fair value determination for purposes of the Investment Company Act of 1940 and have...more
In this Issue: Senate Votes to Expand Paycheck Protection Program; FHFA (Finally) Addresses Liquidity Concerns for Mortgage Servicers. Yesterday, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed legislation providing $484 billion in...more
Heard Around the Industry - Status of New Loan Activity: Lender activity during the pandemic appears mixed, with approximately one-third of lenders not lending at all at the moment and the others either being cautious and...more
On 29 A?pril 2019 the Spanish government approved Royal Decree 309/2019, which develops certain key areas of Law 5/2019, which regulates real estate credit. Although the main purpose of these new rules is to regulate...more
Consumers in West Virginia have found a new subject on which to file lawsuits. Within the past couple of years, litigation over reverse mortgages has become a bigger part of consumer lending litigation in West Virginia....more
Following the recent hurricanes that have damaged many homes beyond repair, borrowers may seek to apply any available insurance proceeds to satisfy the outstanding balance on their loans rather than repair the property....more
With the end of the Department of Treasury’s Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) coming in January 2017, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) has released a set of four principles for financial...more
On July 7, 2016, the Supreme Court of the State of Washington issued its opinion in Jordan v. Nationstar Mortgage, LLC, which, prior to foreclosure, may prevent servicers from securing property after a default or, at least,...more
On November 3, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released its fall 2015 supervisory report concerning enforcement actions from May 2015 through August 2015. The Bureau highlights violations in the mortgage...more
On August 4, the CFPB published a report on its “Know Before You Owe” eClosing project which found that borrowers can benefit from electronic closings when navigating the mortgage closing process. Specifically, the results of...more
Foreclosure: non-borrower owner of real property as tenants-in-common with borrower not required to sign mortgage for borrower to encumber only his interest in the property and non-borrower’s signature on mortgage reflected...more
Concerned about “increasing uncertainty surrounding regulatory oversight of these types of arrangements,” Wells Fargo is ending all of its roughly 200 mortgage marketing services and desk rental agreements with builders and...more
The UCC was supposed to make enforcing negotiable instruments a simpler, more streamlined process. It has proven anything but in Florida. Continuing a trend that now stretches back years, mortgage lenders have had an...more