In recent days, Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Bill Pulte has made it clear that he believes fraud is a rampant problem at FHFA. In a stream of related activities, Pulte has called on the public to report...more
4/21/2025
/ Borrowers ,
Employees ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fannie Mae ,
FHFA ,
Fraud ,
Freddie Mac ,
Government Agencies ,
Lenders ,
Mortgages ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Repurchases
On April 3, 2025, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced it will end the Veterans Affairs Servicing Purchase (VASP) program on May 1, 2025. This decision comes just shy of one year since the program’s...more
4/8/2025
/ Affordable Housing ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Veterans Affairs ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Foreclosure ,
Housing Market ,
Loans ,
Loss Mitigation ,
Mortgages ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Veterans
On December 17, 2024, amid a flurry of activity by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the agency released an Issue Spotlight discussing “problems with mortgage companies” that homeowners face “after divorce or...more
1/8/2025
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Consumer Complaint Database ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Data Privacy ,
Debt Collection ,
Divorce ,
Enforcement ,
Loper Bright Enterprises v Raimondo ,
Mortgage Servicers ,
Mortgages ,
Regulation X ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
RESPA ,
SCOTUS ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
On December 12, 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced its final rule, redefining overdraft fees as finance charges in order to limit overdraft fees. The final rule seeks to regulate how overdraft...more
On October 10, 2024, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced that TD Bank agreed to pay over $1.8 billion in penalties to resolve the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) investigation into money laundering and Bank Secrecy...more
10/17/2024
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Clawbacks ,
Compliance ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
Money Laundering ,
OCC ,
Penalties ,
Popular ,
Remediation ,
Self-Disclosure Requirements ,
Voluntary Disclosure
Based on a recent report from the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), nonbank mortgage companies (NMCs) need to prepare for additional regulatory scrutiny from both state and federal regulators. In the report, FSOC...more
The CFPB released its Supervisory Highlights, Mortgage Servicing Edition on April 24, 2024. These highlights share the CFPB’s findings from supervisory examinations completed between April 1, 2023, and December 31, 2023....more
This week, in line with the CFPB’s ever-increasing focus on fair lending, Fannie Mae issued a Fair Servicing Best Practices Guide to promote “servicer awareness of fair servicing best practices.” Taking a big picture...more
On June 21, 2023, the CFPB released two Data Spotlight reports focused on the Southern states, entitled “Banking and Credit Access in the Southern Region of the U.S.” and “Consumer Finances in Rural Areas of the Southern...more
On June 21, 2023, the CFPB released two Data Spotlight reports focused on the Southern states, entitled “Banking and Credit Access in the Southern Region of the U.S.” and “Consumer Finances in Rural Areas of the Southern...more
On April 26, 2023, the CFPB issued an advisory opinion clarifying that a debt collector who brings or threatens to bring a foreclosure action to collect a time-barred mortgage debt may violate the Fair Debt Collection...more
On March 31, 2023, the CFPB released its annual consumer complaints report. Although there was a significant increase in non-mortgage related complaints, the volume of mortgage-related complaints decreased compared to...more
On January 18, 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released an updated version of its Mortgage Servicing Examination Manual. As the CFPB described in a corresponding blog post, the manual outlines “the types...more
The Director of the Justice Department’s U.S. Trustee Program (USTP), which oversees the administration of bankruptcy cases, is about to change for the first time in nearly 20 years. Clifford White will be stepping down from...more
On December 19, 2022, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) issued an additional extension of the temporary waiver of face-to-face contact required under 24 CFR § 203.604 Contact with the Mortgagor, under Mortgagee Actions...more
As we all hit the grocery store for that forgotten cranberry sauce and send a few last urgent work emails, we hope everyone is able to be with friends and family this Thanksgiving. Here at Bradley, we are counting our...more
On October 19, 2022, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals issued its opinion in Community Financial Services Association of America, et al. v. CFPB (CFSA v. CFPB) invalidating the CFPB’s Payday, Vehicle-Title, and Certain...more
10/21/2022
/ Appeals ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Corporate Counsel ,
En Banc Review ,
Payday Loans ,
Petition for Writ of Certiorari ,
Regulatory Violations ,
SCOTUS ,
Separation of Powers ,
Small Dollar Lenders ,
Vehicle Title
In July of this year, Fannie Mae announced an update to the Agency’s Seller and Servicer Guidelines to include requirements that mortgage loan sellers and servicers comply with state address confidentiality programs (ADCONs),...more
Two recent announcements by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) will push the mortgage servicing industry to increase its collection and maintenance of consumer demographic and language preference data.
On May 3,...more
On July 27, 2022, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against...more
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued an advisory opinion on June 29, 2022, clarifying its view as to the legality under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) of “convenience fees” for optional...more
The current leadership of the CFPB has not been shy about highlighting the importance of fair lending—and it is becoming increasingly clear that fair lending and equity within the financial services industry is one of the...more
The COVID-19 pandemic has been a focal point for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) – especially with regard to mortgage servicers and loss mitigation programs. In its Fall Supervisory Highlights, the CFPB noted...more
In a December 13, 2021 letter to servicers, New York Attorney General Letitia James reminded servicers of their continuing obligations to assist New Yorkers amidst the pandemic and warned of enforcement actions against...more
Now that the pandemic’s “social distancing” is lessening, we hope you are all able to gather with friends and family this Thanksgiving. As we do the same, we wanted to count our blessings as we review the year. This year, we...more
11/29/2021
/ CARES Act ,
Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Debt Collectors ,
Dodd-Frank ,
FDIC ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
Foreclosure ,
GLBA Privacy ,
HMDA ,
Loan Servicer ,
Loss Mitigation ,
Moratorium ,
Mortgage Servicers ,
Mortgage Servicing Rules ,
NPRM ,
OCC ,
Regulation F