Category: Top National News

24/7 Wall Street, Jan. 19, 2018–Paul AusickThe national mortgage application fraud risk index rose from 135 in the third quarter of 2017 to 138 in the fourth quarter, according to researchers at CoreLogic.

HousingWire, Jan. 19, 2018–Ben LaneOcwen Financial is getting closer to putting its mortgage servicing issues with more than half the country’s state regulators in the past.

National Mortgage News, Jan. 19, 2018–Brian Collins (subscription)The House has voted to exempt community banks, small credit unions and nonbank mortgage lenders from new Home Mortgage Disclosure Act reporting requirements that went to effect Jan. 1.

Bloomberg, Jan. 19, 2018–Jesse HamiltonFederal Reserve Vice Chairman Randal Quarles, the central bank’s supervision chief, shared a laundry list of ways to make regulation less burdensome for Wall Street–including streamlining capital rules, overhauling post-crisis limits on trading and major changes to how the agency stress-tests banks.

National Mortgage News, Jan. 18, 2018–Kate Berry (subscription)Acting Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Mick Mulvaney has requested “zero” funding from the Federal Reserve in the second quarter and instead will use reserves to fund the agency.

Los Angeles Times, Jan. 18, 2018–Jim PuzzangheraMick Mulvaney once called the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau a “joke … in a sad, sick kind of way.” Now, as its acting director, he’s in a position to change it.

Bloomberg, Jan. 18, 2018–EditorialMaintaining FICO’s monopoly would be convenient for regulators, who otherwise will have to manage and monitor an array of models, the editorial says. But competition is more likely to serve the interests of consumers and the economy.

Los Angeles Times, Jan. 18, 2018–James Rufus KorenDavid Eghbali said the actions that led to his firing and to a fine levied by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau were part of his attempt to shield customers from fees demanded by the bank, including ones that Wells Fargo has since acknowledged were charged improperly.

National Mortgage News, Jan. 18, 2018–Brad Finkelstein (subscription)Loan defaults associated with the three late summer hurricanes had a more immediate effect on MGIC Investment Corp.’s secondary market capital cushion than proposed changes by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

National Mortgage News, Jan. 17, 2018–Kate Berry (susbcription)The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said it plans to publish a series of requests for information in the Federal Register in the coming weeks asking for the public to weigh in on the agency’s enforcement, supervision, rulemaking, market monitoring and education activities.