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 previous years. The CFPB contacted companies for review and response for approximately 23,600 (or 81%) of the 29,100 mortgage complaints they received in 2022.
Three years after it began, the presidentially declared COVID-19 national emergency is officially over. On April 10, 2023, President Biden signed H. J. Res. 7, officially ending the COVID-19 national emergency a month earlier than anticipated. For mortgage servicers who had been led to believe that the national emergency would remain in place for another
In a surprising shift from its current position, Fannie Mae is expected to roll out a pilot program this spring that waives title insurance requirements for certain loans sold to Fannie Mae, according to a recent report from Politico. While the specifics of the plan have not been announced, this pilot program comes on
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 of information that CFPB examiners gather to evaluate mortgage servicers’ policies and procedures; assess whether servicers are complying with
On December 15, 2022, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) issued Mortgagee Letter 2022-23, establishing the COVID-19 Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) Property Charge Repayment Plan.
The COVID-19 HECM Property Charge Repayment Plan would aid HECM borrowers in covering costs associated with standard property charges. As a condition of their loan, HECM borrowers are required
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), and to enter coding for borrowers who identify themselves as participants in such programs (SEL-2022-06; SVC-2022-05). Fannie Mae’s announcement
On Thursday, September 22, 2022, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a new request for information (RFI) regarding mortgage servicing, potentially opening the door for much-needed regulatory reforms. The RFI is focused on inquiries regarding refinances and, more generally, ways to streamline short and long-term loss mitigation options. It includes 37 specific requests, allowing
As discussed in prior posts and articles (here, here and here), in 2019 Congress passed the Small Business Reorganization Act creating new Subchapter V of Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. The purpose of Subchapter V was to make small business bankruptcies faster and less expensive. However, the substantial benefits of Subchapter
On May 2, 2022, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed SB 470, which amends provisions of Georgia’s banking laws relating to the denial or revocation of a mortgage license or registration due to certain felony convictions. SB 470 will reduce the impact on mortgage companies as a result of Georgia’s existing prohibition on the employment of
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 the increase in borrowers needing loss mitigation assistance in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, and cited mortgage servicers for two