In a less-than-thousand-word opinion, the Fourth District Court of Appeal of Florida put foreclosure cases across Florida in jeopardy. Namely, in all foreclosure cases in which a borrower is deceased, unless the legal representative of the borrower’s estate is joined as a defendant — as opposed to a guardian ad litem or the heirs of
As more Americans install photovoltaic power generation and storage systems on their homes, journalists have reported incidents of alleged fraud and other forms of misconduct by solar system installers, finance companies, and other related parties. The media attention has correlated directly with an increase in press releases, investigations, and even lawsuits by attorneys general and
Whether a solar system is a “fixture” sounds like a mundane legal issue – but it has significant implications for the residential solar industry and for the financing of residential solar systems. If a system is regarded as a “fixture” of the house to which it is attached, then the enforceability and priority of the
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 approach, the guide states that servicers should ensure that “all borrowers are treated consistently and fairly throughout the loan servicing
Amidst record-level interest rates, on February 21, 2024, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) announced a new loss mitigation option, the Payment Supplement, to aid struggling borrowers. The Payment Supplement will bring a borrower’s mortgage current, as well as provide a temporary reduction in the borrower’s monthly principal mortgage payment for a term of three years.
Nearly two years ago, in April 2022, the CFPB issued a press release announcing its intent to start exercising its authority to examine non-bank financial services institutions that the CFPB has “reasonable cause to determine pose risks to consumers.” The agency also indicated that it would release to the public the results of such supervision.
This past year, the False Claims Act (FCA) continued to be a key tool for the Justice Department and whistleblowers to bring suits against companies, including those in the financial services sector. The Justice Department secured 543 FCA settlements and judgments — a record number — and collected over $2.68 billion. Whistleblowers filed 712 qui
On February 16, 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced what it heralded as a significant update to its Supervisory Appeals Process. The first of its kind since 2015, this revision introduced a seemingly more inclusive and flexible approach to how financial entities can contest supervisory findings. The appeals process is intended to promote
Based upon “the mortgage industry’s evolution over time, the advancement of technology, and due to no longer needing to maintain several branch offices to conduct FHA business nationwide,” the FHA has adopted a new rule regarding branch registration.
Under the prior rule, all FHA-approved mortgagees and lenders were required to register any branch office where
In an October 2023 advisory opinion, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) put large banks and credit unions on notice that the use of chatbots and other technologies could increase the risk of violating federal law if those services are ineffective. As we have previously written about, the CFPB’s advisory opinion interprets Section