Not a Normal Mortgage Crisis: How the Mortgage Industry Weathered the Pandemic
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
On August 29, the CFPB issued a consent order against a non-bank direct mortgage lender for misrepresenting the cost of its cash-out refinance loans, which are guaranteed under the VA home loan program, to active-duty...more
Last week, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) announced it had entered into a consent order with NewDay USA, a Florida-based non-bank direct mortgage lender, over allegations that the lender misled...more
As previously reported, in November 2022 the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) issued a proposal to update its rules for interest rate reduction refinancing loans (often referred to as “IRRRLs”) to conform with VA loan...more
On December 18, the CFPB posted a blog entry regarding cash-out refinance mortgages and their borrowers between 2013 to 2023. According to the entry, which noted reflects the authors’ views, and not those of the CFPB,...more
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
For the entirety of this lawyer’s career, it was universally accepted that if one spouse was going to keep the marital residence, that property needed to be refinanced so that the spouse passing title (i.e., moving on) was no...more
Divorce can be a challenging journey, both emotionally and financially. It requires complex decisions to be made at every stage, especially regarding housing and related financial matters. In an upcoming webinar, Carolyn...more
The CFPB has published guidance about compliance with Regulation B, which implements the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA), when lenders deliver denial notices based on underwriting decisions using artificial intelligence...more
What Happened? One fundamental question in any restructuring relates to the treatment of funded debt obligations, like mortgages. When the cost of prepetition debt is higher than the prevailing market rates, a debtor may...more
Summary - The threshold for indemnity deed of trust (IDOT) recordation tax deferral in Maryland increased from $3,000,000 to $12,500,000, effective July 1, 2024. This is welcome news for commercial real estate owners and...more
The U.S. commercial real estate market, valued at $20 trillion in 2021 by some estimates, touches nearly every facet of urban and suburban dwellers’ lives – from where they live (multi-family housing or apartment buildings)...more
In Circular 26-23-06, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced reduced funding fees for purchase, construction and cash-out refinance loans guaranteed by the VA that are closed on or after April 7, 2023. ...more
In this article, we share a timeline of our monthly "bites" for 2022 applicable to the Mortgage industry. So, what happened in 2022?...more
Regulatory Developments - Federal Reserve Seeks Feedback on Proposed Updates to FMUs Risk Management Requirements - On September 23, the Federal Reserve invited comment on proposed updates to operational risk...more
This briefing is the second in a series of briefings by Walkers’ on the Lending, Credit and Finance (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law, 2022 (the “LCFL”), and provides an overview of the licensing regime applicable to consumer...more
Whether CCRC residency agreements are treated as leases or contracts under state law could impact the recovery of CCRC bonds in the event of the insolvency of the CCRC owner. Some states treat CCRC residency agreements as...more
This article discusses a common type of mortgage foreclosure fraud and how borrowers can protect themselves against scams. The facts in this article, as well as the location and names of companies and individuals, are...more
The collapse of the Champlain Towers South in Surfside, Florida, in June 2021, sent shockwaves throughout the United States and was a wake-up call to condominiums to the dangers of aging infrastructures. In light of this...more
Yesterday, Ginnie Mae clarified in an industry forum that its APM 21-06 seasoning requirements for the VA IRRRL Refinance of a Modified Loan are measured from the contracted first payment due date under a modification...more
On April 21, 2021, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will extend certain loan origination flexibilities, including alternative appraisals on purchase and rate-term refinance...more
Industry expert, Cristy Ward, Chief Strategy Officer for Mortgage Connect stops by Clark Hill’s Credit Eco To Go with Joann Needleman to discuss the state of the mortgage industry during and after the pandemic. The mandates...more
Depending on the size of any existing mortgage, the equity in the marital home often represents a significant portion of the marital estate, however illiquid that equity may be. So how do the divorcing parties manage that...more
Just about every divorce case involves a house and its corresponding mortgage. In a small number of cases parties agree that dissolution of the marriage is also an opportune time to downsize the residence, but in most...more
The South Carolina Court of Appeals rejected the replacement mortgage doctrine on Nov. 25, 2020 and held a home equity line of credit had priority over a subsequent mortgage that secured refinancing of a mortgage prior in...more