Tag Archives: Compliance

The American Bankers Association (ABA) released the results of its latest annual Real Estate Lending Survey. According to the ABA, more than 80 percent of bankers surveyed believe that tightened Dodd-Frank rules will restrict credit, thereby narrowing the pool of candidates able to secure mortgages. More than a third of bankers surveyed said they would only offer qualified mortgages.

In a recent report, Fitch Ratings notes that new servicing oversight will yield higher fixed costs, as technology and process enhancements are made in order to comply with the new guidelines. This increase in cost will push non-bank servicers to grow their portfolios, and Fitch suggests “strong forces are still in place to further incent both outright MSR sales and subservicing arrangements, thus heightening scrutiny of such transactions."

PCV Murcor, a California-based provider of real estate valuations for the industry’s largest institutions, announced its recent membership in a group aiming to create more standardized, efficient third-party oversight audits.

Although employment is being reduced, the need for certain types of talent is more critical than ever, according to Rick Glass, founder of R.T. Glass & Associates, one of the mortgage banking industry’s leaders in executive search since 1993. However, he said the demand for certain types of skills has changed during the past several years, and continues to change in order to adapt to new regulations and fluctuating markets.

A new survey published through George Mason University's Mercatus Center finds bankers at smaller institutions are growing increasingly anxious about the roll-out of the Dodd-Frank Act and subsequent regulatory requirements. One anonymous banker objected to "the maddening pace of illogical and unnecessary regulation (that would not) have done anything to prevent the 2008 collapse."

Financial services solutions firm Wolters Kluwer Financial Services (WKFS) released Tuesday its second Regulatory & Risk Management Indicator for the U.S. banking industry, a metric of major concerns worrying banks and credit unions nationwide. According to the latest results, the January 2014 indicator registered 121, a jump up from the 2013 baseline score of 100.

After Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Deputy Director Steven Antonakes decried mortgage servicers for not doing enough to mend the industry after the recent housing crisis, one industry leader called his comments "inflammatory and without benefit to the audience." Ed Delgado, president and CEO of the Five Star Institute, believes the deputy director's remarks are not only ill-timed but also counterproductive.

Stewart Lender Services, a division of Stewart Title Guaranty that specializes in servicing and mortgage origination support, announced a new Servicing Quality Control servicing offering for servicers through the company’s Capital Markets Group.

The new year has brought with it an entirely new set of guidelines from regulators on third-party vendor management. For those lenders still scrambling to get their oversight right before disciplinary actions kick in, Allstate Appraisal announced upcoming webinars to delve into the topic of appraisal management companies (AMC).

A number of "unfair and deceptive" servicing practices "continued to plague consumers throughout 2013," the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) says in a recent report. "Taking action against mortgage servicing practices that harm consumers is a key priority for the CFPB," Director Richard Cordray said. "Especially under the detailed protections of our new rules, we expect services to clean up their act and provide responsible customer service."