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The CFPB has acted to halt a student loan debt relief scam that illegally tricked borrowers into paying fees for federal loan benefits and misrepresented to consumers that it was affiliated with the Department of Education. The CFPB has ordered the student debt relief company, Student Aid Institute, Inc., and its chief executive officer, Steven Lamont, to pay a penalty, halt debt relief services, and stop charging affected customers. The CFPB also permanently barred the company and Lamont from the debt relief industry.

The Bureau has announced the release of its March consumer complaint snapshot, which focuses on complaints related to debt collection. The report shows that the most common debt collection complaint involves attempts to collect on a debt the consumer reported was not owed. This month’s snapshot also highlights trends seen in complaints from consumers in Florida. The Bureau’s fifth annual Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) report was also posted.

The CFPB has posted on its Blog the third article in its series on consumer choices in buying a first home.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has released its February 2016 Index, which indicates that nationally, interest rates on conventional purchase-money mortgages decreased from January to February, according to several indices of new mortgage contracts. The National Average Contract Mortgage Rate for the Purchase of Previously Occupied Homes by Combined Lenders Index was 3.88 percent for loans closed in late February, down 10 basis points. The average interest rate on all mortgage loans was 3.89 percent, down 8 basis points. The average interest rate on conventional, 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages of $417,000 or less was 4.11 percent, down 12 basis points. The effective interest rate on all mortgage loans was 4.03 percent in February, down 7 basis points. The effective interest rate accounts for the addition of initial fees and charges over the life of the mortgage. The average loan amount for all loans was $316,700 in February, up $6,300.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has published a final rule in this morning's Federal Register identifying communities in Colorado, Virginia and Wisconsin where the sale of flood insurance has been authorized under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) that are scheduled for suspension on May 16, 2016, for noncompliance with the floodplain management requirements of the program.

Update: FEMA published a correction to this Final Rule on April 25, 2016, at 81 FR 24036

In a speech at the Economic Club of New York, Federal Reserve Board Chair Yellen discussed the activities of the Board relative to the goals of maximum employment and price stability. Dr. Yellen explained why the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) anticipates that only gradual increases in the federal funds rate are likely to be warranted in coming years, emphasizing that this guidance should be understood as a forecast for the trajectory of policy rates that the Committee anticipates will prove to be appropriate to achieve its objectives, conditional on the outlook for real economic activity and inflation. She noted the FOMC decided to leave the stance of policy unchanged in both January and March, while emphasizing its commitment to adjust monetary policy as needed to achieve employment and inflation objectives. Yellen reviewed recent developments, the baseline outlook, risks to the outlook for real economic activity and inflation, and monetary policy implications. She concluded, "I continue to strongly believe that monetary policy is most effective when the FOMC is forthcoming in addressing economic and financial developments such as those I have discussed in these remarks, and when we speak clearly about how such developments may affect the outlook and the expected path of policy."

The Federal Reserve has posted the January 2016 G.20 Finance Companies Owned and Managed Receivables Outstanding and Auto Loans: Terms of Credit report.

The FDIC has released a list of 32 orders of administrative enforcement actions taken against banks and individuals in February. Included were two consent orders, 13 removal and prohibition orders, five Section 19 orders, four civil money penalties (CMPs), and eight terminations of earlier actions.

Of the CMPs, one was issued to a Cuba City, Wisconsin bank for engaging in a pattern or practice of committing violations of the Flood Disaster Protection Act and/or the notice requirements under section 1364 of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968, and/or Part 339 of the FDIC's Rules and Regulations, by, on multiple occasions, making, increasing, extending or renewing loans secured by a building or mobile home located or to be located in a special flood hazard area without requiring that the collateral be covered by sufficient flood insurance.

The other three CMPs, each for $15,000, were imposed on individuals who are or were institution-affiliated parties of a bank in Palos Hills, Illinois, for allegations of recklessly engaging in unsafe or unsound practices or breaches of fiduciary duty by knowingly causing the bank to file a call report not in accordance with instructions.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has posted a recording of its recent webinar on TRID compliance for construction lending, and updated the Question Index covering the questions addressed during the ongoing series of webinars on TRID implementation.

Sales of new single-family houses in February 2016 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 512,000, according to estimates released jointly today by HUD and the Census Bureau, 2.0 percent above the revised January rate of 502,000 and 6.1 percent below the February 2015 estimate of 545,000.The median sales price of new houses sold in February 2016 was $301,400; the average sales price was $348,900. The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of February was 240,000. This represents a supply of 5.6 months at the current sales rate.