The CFPB published a blog discussing a few key takeaways from a series of public hearings addressing appraisal bias....more
3/27/2024
/ Appraisal ,
Bias ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Fannie Mae ,
FFIEC ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Freddie Mac ,
Real Estate Market ,
USPAP
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 Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) recently published another FHFA Insights blog post addressing the underutilization of appraisal time adjustments by appraisers that is a companion to an FHFA Insights blog post that...more
On December 6, FinCEN announced that it was issuing an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“AMPRM”) to solicit public comment on potential requirements under the Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”) for certain persons involved in...more
12/14/2021
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Banking Sector ,
Banks ,
BSA/AML ,
Comment Period ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
Money Laundering ,
Popular ,
Real Estate Market ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs)
As previously reported, the federal banking agencies announced an interim final rule in April 2020 due to COVID-19 that allows for appraisals and evaluations of homes and other real property to be obtained up to 120 days...more
9/30/2020
/ Appraisal ,
Banking Regulators ,
Banking Sector ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
FDIC ,
Federal Reserve ,
Final Rules ,
Interim Final Rules (IFR) ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
National Housing Act (NHA) ,
Real Estate Market ,
Real Estate Transactions
As part of legislation to fund various federal government agencies after December 20, 2019, the House of Representatives and Senate agreed to extend the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) until September 30, 2020....more
12/20/2019
/ Flood Insurance ,
Flooding ,
Legislative Agendas ,
National Flood Insurance Program ,
Natural Disasters ,
Pending Legislation ,
Policy Limits ,
Property Damage ,
Property Insurance ,
Real Estate Market ,
Severe Weather ,
Trump Administration
The CFPB recently updated the TILA/RESPA Integrated Disclosure (TRID) rule FAQs to address construction loans. The guidance falls well short of what the industry is seeking from the CFPB....more
6/3/2019
/ Closing Documents ,
Construction Industry ,
Construction Loans ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Economic Growth Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act ,
Guidance Update ,
Real Estate Development ,
Real Estate Market ,
TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure Rule (TRID)
As previously reported, in early December 2018 Congress passed another short-term extension of the National Flood Insurance Program that was scheduled to expire on December 21, 2018. ...more
1/4/2019
/ FEMA ,
Flood Insurance ,
Flooding ,
Insurance Industry ,
Mortgages ,
National Flood Insurance Program ,
Natural Disasters ,
Property Damage ,
Property Insurance ,
Real Estate Market ,
Severe Weather
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FINCEN”) announced on November 15 that it has renewed and revised its Geographic Targeting Orders (“GTOs”) that require U.S. title insurance companies to identify the natural persons...more
11/20/2018
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Beneficial Owner ,
Financial Transactions ,
FinCEN ,
GTO ,
Insurance Industry ,
Legal Entities ,
Money Laundering ,
Real Estate Investments ,
Real Estate Market ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Title Insurance ,
Virtual Currency
As we reported previously, in June 2018 Zillow Group (Zillow) announced that it is no longer under investigation by the CFPB for Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) and UDAAP compliance with regard to its...more
10/10/2018
/ Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Marketing ,
Mortgages ,
Preferred Shares ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Real Estate Market ,
RESPA ,
Rule 10(b) ,
Securities Fraud ,
UDAAP ,
Zillow
In a SEC filing dated June 22, 2018, Zillow Group announced that it is no longer under investigation by the CFPB for RESPA and UDAAP compliance with regard to its co-marketing program. Zillow Group had disclosed the...more
A bill to provide a “Madden fix” and three other bills relevant to mortgage lenders were included among the more than 20 bills approved by the House Financial Services Committee on November 15, 2017. With the exception of...more
For years many industry participants wondered if allowing their real estate agents or loan officers to engage in co-marketing on Zillow Group applications and websites posed a risk to their companies under RESPA. The...more
FinCEN announced today that it is renewing the existing Geographical Targeting Orders (GTOs) issued in July 2016 that require all title insurance companies to identify and report on the natural persons behind shell companies...more
2/23/2017
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Banking Sector ,
Beneficial Owner ,
BSA/AML ,
Cash Transactions ,
FATF ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
Geographic Targeting Order ,
Insurance Industry ,
Money Laundering ,
Real Estate Investments ,
Real Estate Market ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Shell Corporations ,
Title Insurance
People with limited English proficiency (LEP) are protected under the Fair Housing Act (FHA) under new guidance announced by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Housing providers can face liability for...more
9/21/2016
/ Discrimination ,
Disparate Impact ,
Fair Housing Act (FHA) ,
Housing Discrimination ,
Housing Market ,
HUD ,
Landlords ,
Limited English Proficiency (LEP) ,
Mortgages ,
National Origin ,
National Origin Discrimination ,
Real Estate Market ,
Tenants
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has published a notice in the Federal Register announcing that it has revised its methodology statement for calculating the average prime offer rates (APORs) under Regulations C...more
FinCEN has announced a major expansion and extension of its geographic targeting orders (GTOs) aimed at high-end cash buyers of real estate. This action reflects FinCEN’s continued efforts to prevent money laundering through...more
8/5/2016
/ Banking Sector ,
Beneficial Owner ,
Cash Transactions ,
Covered Transactions ,
FinCEN ,
Geographic Targeting Order ,
Insurance Industry ,
Money Laundering ,
Real Estate Investments ,
Real Estate Market ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Title Insurance
As we have reported, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released a final rule amending Regulation C, which implements the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA), requiring “Covered Institutions” to report certain...more
7/22/2016
/ Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
FFIEC ,
Filing Requirements ,
HMDA ,
HUD ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Mortgages ,
Real Estate Market ,
Regulation C ,
Reporting Requirements
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and Department of Justice (DOJ) recently announced a proposed consent order with BancorpSouth Bank to settle charges that the bank’s mortgage lending practices violated the Fair...more
7/22/2016
/ Banking Sector ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Discriminatory Lending Practices ,
ECOA ,
Fair Housing Act (FHA) ,
Fair Lending ,
Mortgages ,
Race Discrimination ,
Real Estate Market ,
Redlining
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's (FinCEN) continuing efforts to address the "real estate industry's vulnerability to money laundering” were outlined by FinCEN Director Jennifer Shasky Calvery in an April 12, 2016,...more
On July 29, the following four CFPB-related bills were passed by the House Financial Services Committee: H.R. 3192, the “Homebuyers Assistance Act”: The bill would provide a hold harmless period for the TILA/RESPA Integrated...more
8/10/2015
/ Anti-Steering Rules ,
Banking Sector ,
Banks ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Institutions ,
First Time Homebuyers ,
Lenders ,
Minority-Owned Businesses ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Mortgages ,
Real Estate Market ,
Small Business ,
TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure Rule (TRID) ,
Women-Owned Businesses
On August 5, 2015, the CFPB issued a report on its study of the CFPB’s mortgage loan eClosing project and held a public forum addressing the study results. As we reported, the CFPB launched the eClosing project to determine...more
8/7/2015
/ Banking Sector ,
Banks ,
Borrowers ,
Closing Documents ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Electronic Filing ,
Financial Institutions ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Mortgages ,
Real Estate Market ,
Real Estate Transactions ,
TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure Rule (TRID)
The CFPB staff held a “final” webinar on May 26, 2015, to address the Truth in Lending Act/Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act Integrated Disclosure (TRID) rule that becomes effective on August 1, 2015. Presumably the...more
Statements made by CFPB Director Richard Cordray to the National Association of Realtors on May 12, 2015, suggest that the Director may not fully appreciate the implications of the TILA/RESPA Integrated Disclosure (TRID) rule...more
The CFPB has announced that it has issued a Consent Order to settle charges that a mortgage lender and its principal violated RESPA Section 8 by paying illegal kickbacks to a bank in exchange for mortgage loan referrals....more
1/17/2014
/ Banking Sector ,
Borrowers ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Contract Drafting ,
Disgorgement ,
Dodd-Frank ,
HUD ,
Kickbacks ,
Lenders ,
Real Estate Market ,
RESPA