Tag Archives: HOEPA

Five federal agencies issued Tuesday a statement assuring creditors that they do not run the risk of being found in violation of fair lending laws should they choose to only originate qualified mortgages (QM) as defined earlier in the year. With creditors having to consider a balance of secondary market opportunities, capital requirements, and credit and liability risk, regulators say they expect there will be a need for most businesses to fine-tune their products in response--something they should be used to.

House Republican lawmakers advanced a round of attacks against Treasury Department adviser and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau architect Elizabeth Warren Thursday, even as Democrats fired back.

In testimony before the House financial services committee and two subcommittees, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau associate director and potential nominee Raj Date made it clear that the agency plans to pounce on new rules for mortgage-servicers in July. Date described a transfer of authority to the bureau from seven agencies set to occur in July. According to Bloomberg News, the congressional committee asked Date to testify as it looks over gaps and lapses in the current body of mortgage servicing regulation.

The Federal Reserve is raising the dollar amount of mortgage fees that triggers additional disclosure requirements under the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) and the Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act (HOEPA). On Monday, the central bank's board of governors published its annual adjustment to the rule, bumping the amount of the fee-based trigger up 3 percent to $611, effective January 1, 2012. Currently that threshold is set at $592.