On June 30, 2025, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a large “budget trailer” bill that will have significant consequences on the mortgage industry. In relevant part, the new law addresses foreclosures on so-called zombie second mortgages. And while some regulation in this space may be warranted to ensure best practices, California’s new rule may
Over the past few years, we’ve seen a wave of consumer lawsuits filed under Florida’s Consumer Collection Practices Act (FCCPA), many of them alleging violations of the law’s “quiet hours” provision based solely on the timing of emails. That legal loophole has now been closed.
On May
After years of denying review, the New York Court of Appeals — the state’s highest court — agreed to address the question of whether New York’s momentous Foreclosure Abuse Prevention Act (FAPA) applies retroactively. On May 20, 2025, the New York Court of Appeals accepted review of two (2) cases that present challenges to Section
The U.S. real estate market has long been a cornerstone of the American dream—a path to stability, investment, and generational wealth. But at the margins, that same market has also provided an opportunity for illicit actors who exploit all-cash deals to quietly launder dirty money into legitimate assets. Recognizing this vulnerability, in August 2024, the
The Trump administration remains focused on countering Mexican cartels and other Latin American transnational criminal organizations (TCOs). Since designating eight TCOs as foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs), the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and Department of Justice (DOJ) have issued alerts and prosecutorial guidance respectively reinforcing the administration’s whole-of-government approach to countering this threat. As with
The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) has been a notoriously active area for litigation, especially class-action litigation, in recent years. One issue that continues to be litigated in FCRA cases involving data furnisher liability is the scope of a review that the furnisher must undertake when a consumer dispute is lodged. In particular, courts have
On May 15, 2025, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) filed an interim final rule in the Federal Register that will rescind its prior 2021 COVID-19 mortgage servicing final rule. The interim final rule is set for publication in the Federal Register on May 16, 2025, and would become effective 60 days after publication.
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 fraud via email and a new Hotline, terminated over 100 FHFA employees for alleged fraud, and
At the tail end of the Biden administration, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) published Mortgagee Letter 2025-06, which was tilted Updates to Servicing, Loss Mitigation, and Claims. The 251-page mortgagee letter outlines various changes to FHA’s servicing requirements in Handbook 4000.1, such as updated requirements for forbearances and extending the availability of