A New World for Mortgage Banking – What You Need to Know About the CFPB’s Final Mortgage Servicing Rules
On May 16, the CFPB published a Federal Register notice withdrawing its COVID-19-era mortgage servicing protections for borrowers. The CFPB identified two reasons for rescinding this measure: first, the rule was intended to...more
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) on July 10, 2024, announced a proposed rule that would require servicers to more intently assist borrowers throughout a "loss mitigation review cycle" before being permitted to...more
On June 18, the CFPB issued an order against two reverse mortgage servicing companies (along with certain affiliates and subsidiaries), after determining that the companies misrepresented loan defaults and failed to respond...more
Recently, the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey ruled that obligations under RESPA extended beyond the issuance of a foreclosure judgment, but dismissed the plaintiff’s other claim under RESPA. ...more
On June 18, the CFPB settled enforcement actions against two mortgage servicers who serviced reverse mortgages on behalf of HUD, for their systemic failure to respond to consumer requests for assistance, resulting in...more
In April 2024, the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts held in a matter of first impression that a borrower must allege actual damages to qualify for relief under the Real Estate Settlement...more
The United States District Court for the District of Maryland recently denied a mortgage servicer’s motion to dismiss a putative class action claim pursuant to the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) § 2605(g),...more
The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington recently granted summary judgment in favor of a defendant mortgage servicer related to alleged RESPA violations concerning qualified written requests and notices...more
On February 22, the Fourth Circuit clarified in a published opinion what communications constitute a qualified written request (QWR) under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA). The Fourth Circuit held that “where...more
On March 13, 2020, President Donald Trump declared a national emergency in response to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Shortly thereafter, to assist consumers impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress passed the...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit held that a claim based on an alleged violation of the Minnesota Mortgage Originator and Servicer Licensing Act (MOSLA) cannot be maintained when the MOSLA claim was based...more
A complete overhaul of a complicated set of rules means not just changes in the structure of the rules but changes as significant as definitions and as seemingly minor as the end of the business day. ...more
In Germain v. US Bank National Association, --- F.3d ---, 2019 WL 1467053 (5th Cir. Apr. 3, 2019), the Fifth Circuit resolved two issues of first impression that will have a significant impact on mortgage servicers defending...more
Welcome to Part II of our series on the servicing of discharged mortgage debt (catch up on Part I). This part will discuss communications to discharged borrowers and evaluate various disclaimers that can be utilized. The...more
On May 24, 2018, the President signed the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act into law. A product of rare bipartisanship, the Regulatory Relief Act makes modest reforms to the Dodd–Frank Wall...more
If a mortgage servicer fails to comply with its obligations under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (“RESPA”), 12 U.S.C. 2601, et seq., or its implementing regulations, a borrower may recover “any actual damages . . ....more
As we previously reported, on October 19, 2016, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) published in the Federal Register final amendments to its Mortgage Servicing Rules (Final Rule). The Final Rule, weighing in at...more
On August 17, 2017, the Eleventh Circuit issued an opinion in Steven Bivens v. Select Portfolio Servicing, Inc. (No. 16-15119), holding that a borrower must send requests for information to a mortgage servicer’s designated...more
Effective January 10, 2014, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) amended Regulation X, which implements the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA). These provisions address, among other things, a servicer’s...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
In its Supervisory Highlights released earlier this summer, the CFPB reported its examination observations in consumer reporting, debt collection, mortgage origination and servicing, fair lending, and student loan servicing....more
Increasingly in courts around the country, borrowers have attempted to transform the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), along with its implementing regulation (Reg. X), into a “Gotcha!” device through which...more
In Russell v. Nationstar Mortgage, LLC, No. 14-61977-CIV, 2015 WL 5029346, at *5 (S.D. Fla. Aug. 26, 2015), United States District Court Judge Beth Bloom issued litigious borrowers their latest setback in a large scale...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 United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part a district court’s dismissal of two claims—one under the Truth in Lending Act, the other under the Real Estate Settlement...more