Bipartisan bills rein in GSE CEO pay, provide formal TRID grace period

The House Financial Services Committee approved a slate of bipartisan bills directly impacting the mortgage and housing finance space Wednesday.

They now face a vote before the full House of Representatives.

“We seek to simplify the rules, reduce complexity and compliance costs.  Complicated and costly regulations serve as barriers that too often keep small competitors off the playing field,” said Chairman Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas. “With regulatory relief, we can level that playing field between big corporations and small businesses and create a healthier economy.”

Among the bills passed were:

H.R. 3192, the “Homebuyers Assistance Act”

H.R. 3192 delays enforcement of a CFPB regulation surrounding the home buying process to allow more time for the CFPB to ensure purchasers and buyers are not unfairly harmed by this new regulation.

H.R. 3192 passed 45-13.

H.R. 1210, the “Portfolio Lending…

Outlined in today’s Wall Street Journal:

A few weeks after Hillary Clinton was sworn in as secretary of state in early 2009, she was summoned to Geneva by her Swiss counterpart to discuss an urgent matter. The Internal Revenue Service was suing UBS AG to get the identities of Americans with secret accounts.

If the case proceeded, Switzerland’s largest bank would face an impossible choice: Violate Swiss secrecy laws by handing over the names, or refuse and face criminal charges in U.S. federal court.

Within months, Mrs. Clinton announced a tentative legal settlement—an unusual intervention by the top U.S. diplomat. UBS ultimately turned over information on 4,450 accounts, a fraction of the 52,000 sought by the IRS, an outcome that drew criticism from some lawmakers who wanted a more extensive crackdown.

From that point on, UBS’s engagement with the Clinton family’s charitable organization increased. Total donations by UBS to…

Matt Weidner Law website:

The Eagles Master Association v. Bank of America

St. Andrews at the Eagles, Inc., appeals a final judgment of foreclosure in
favor of Bank of America.1 We reverse because the Bank failed to prove its standing.
On October 12, 2009, a residential foreclosure complaint was filed by BAC
Home Loans Servicing, L.P., formerly known as Countrywide Homes Loans Servicing,
L.P. The first count was to foreclose on a mortgage given by Marie Black; the second
count was to reestablish a lost note and mortgage. St. Andrews was named as a
defendant based on allegations that it might claim a subordinate interest or lien in the
property “by virtue of possible association liens and assessments.”
On the copies of the mortgage and note attached to the complaint, the
lender was identified as Countrywide Bank, FSB. Mortgage Electronic Registrations
Systems, Inc., commonly referred to as MERS, was named…

(Image courtesy of Fannie Mae)

It appears the post-recession mantra of mortgage lenders is “better safe than sorry.”

Despite pushes from the Federal Housing Finance Agencyand the Federal Housing Administration, many mortgage lenders are still applying additional credit overlays to loans delivered to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, a new survey of lenders showed.

The survey, conducted by Fannie Mae’s Economic & Strategic Research Group and based on responses from senior mortgage executives in May 2015, found that approximately 40% of lenders who deliver loans to the GSEs or Ginnie Mae reported applying credit overlays that are more stringent than what the GSEs or Ginnie Mae require.

Fannie Mae’s quarterly Mortgage Lender Sentiment Survey also found that 64% of lenders who deliver loans to the GSEs or Ginnie Mae said that credit overlays are applied on a “limited basis,” which is 20% or less of their loan…

It could never happen again, right?

h/t 2020Crash.blogspot.com