Top Story Lending Related

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced Monday it has taken action against the National Collegiate Student Loan Trusts and their debt collector, Transworld Systems, Inc., for illegal student loan debt collection lawsuits. The Bureau said consumers were sued for private student loan debt that the companies couldn’t prove was owed or was too old to sue over. These lawsuits relied on the filing of false or misleading legal documents. The proposed judgment requires an independent audit of all 800,000 student loans in the National Collegiate Student Loan Trusts’ portfolio. It prohibits the National Collegiate Student Loan Trusts, and any company they hire, from attempting to collect, reporting negative credit information, or filing lawsuits on any loan the audit shows is unverified or invalid. In addition, it requires the National Collegiate Student Loan Trusts to pay at least $19.1 million, which includes initial redress to harmed consumers, relinquished funds to the Treasury, and a civil money penalty. Under a separate consent order, Transworld Systems, Inc. is ordered to pay a $2.5 million civil money penalty.

• Complaint against National Collegiate Student Loan Trusts
• Proposed final judgment against National Collegiate Student Loan Trusts
• Consent order against Transworld Systems, Inc.

The OCC released on Friday new enforcement actions taken against national banks, federal savings associations, and individuals currently and formerly affiliated with national banks and federal savings associations. A civil money penalty was issued against a former Georgia bank director. A civil money penalty of $183,920 was issued against a Cincinnati, Ohio, bank for violations of flood insurance requirements. Also included was a personal cease and desist order issued to the president of mortgage banking of an Arkansas bank, whom the OCC found to have participated in the origination and sale on the secondary market of residential mortgage loans to family members of an executive officer based on false income and employment information, and to have participated in the origination of his own residential mortgage loans with the bank.

The CFPB has issued a no-action letter to Upstart Network, Inc., a company that uses alternative data in making credit and pricing decisions. As a condition of the no-action letter, Upstart will regularly report lending and compliance information to the CFPB to mitigate risk to consumers and aid the Bureau’s understanding of the real-world impact of alternative data on lending decision-making. The agency also posted an article on the no-action letter on the Bureau Blog.

• Press release

The NCUA has announced that federally insured credit unions saw continued improvement in nearly every measurement category during the second quarter of 2017, according to the NCUA Quarterly U.S. Map Review. Nationally, median loan growth in federally insured credit unions was 4.4 percent during the year ending June 30. Median asset growth was 3.9 percent; the median rate of growth in deposits and shares was 4.1 percent; and the median loans-to-shares ratio was 63 percent.

HUD has announced it has awarded $55.2 million to 77 Native American tribes to improve housing conditions and to stimulate economic development in their communities. HUD's Indian Community Development Block Grant (ICDBG) Program is a competitive program that supports a wide range of community development and affordable housing activities, from new housing for individual families to community amenities like rec centers or water lines.

The Federal Reserve Board has issued an order for a $55,500 civil money penalty under the National Flood Insurance Act to a Nebraska state member bank.

The OCC will host two workshops in San Diego on October 24 and 25 for directors of national community banks and federal savings associations supervised by the agency.

• The Compliance Risk workshop on October 24 will focus on the critical elements of an effective compliance risk management program, and on major compliance risks and critical regulations. Topics of discussion include the Bank Secrecy Act, Flood Disaster Protection Act, Fair Lending, Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, Community Reinvestment Act, and other compliance areas of interest.
• The Operational Risk workshop on October 25 will focus on the key components of operational risk—people, processes, and systems— and on governance, third-party risk, vendor management, and cybersecurity.

The Federal Reserve, FDIC, and OCC have announced a joint notice of proposed rulemaking to amend their respective Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) regulations primarily to conform to changes made by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to Regulation C, which implements the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA). In particular, the agencies are proposing to amend their CRA regulations to revise the definitions of "home mortgage loan" and "consumer loan," as well as the public file content requirements. These revisions would maintain consistency between the CRA regulations and the recent changes to Regulation C, which generally become effective on January 1, 2018. Comments on the proposal will be accepted for 30 days after publication in the Federal Register.

UPDATE: Published in the Federal Register on September 20, 2017, with comments due by October 27, 2017.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has announced it will speed federal disaster assistance to the State of Florida and provide support to homeowners and low-income renters forced from their homes due to Hurricane Irma. HUD reported that this week, President Trump issued a major disaster declaration for Broward, Charlotte, Clay, Collier, Duval, Flagler, Hillsborough, Lee, Manatee, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Palm Beach, Pinellas, Putnam, Sarasota and St. Johns counties. The President’s declaration allows HUD to offer foreclosure relief and other assistance to certain families living in the impacted counties. HUD is:

• Granting immediate foreclosure relief – HUD granted a 90-day moratorium on foreclosures and forbearance on foreclosures of FHA-insured home mortgages. There are approximately 280,000 FHA-insured Florida homeowners living in the impacted counties.
• Making mortgage insurance available – HUD's Section 203(h) program provides FHA insurance to disaster victims who have lost their homes and are facing the daunting task of rebuilding or buying another home. Borrowers from participating FHA-approved lenders are eligible for 100 percent financing, including closing costs;
• Making insurance available for both mortgages and home rehabilitation– HUD's Section 203(k) loan program enables those who have lost their homes to finance the purchase or refinance of a house along with its repair through a single mortgage. It also allows homeowners who have damaged houses to finance the rehabilitation of their existing single-family home;
• Providing information on housing providers and HUD programs – The Department will share information with FEMA and the State on housing providers that may have available units in the impacted counties. This includes public housing agencies and multi-family owners. The Department will also connect FEMA and the State to subject matter experts to provide information on HUD programs and providers.
• Assisting the State of Florida and local governments in re-allocating existing federal resources toward disaster relief – HUD's Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and HOME programs give the State and communities the flexibility to redirect millions of dollars in annual formula funding to address critical needs, including housing and services for disaster victims. HUD is currently contacting State and local officials to explore streamlining the Department's CDBG and HOME programs in order to expedite the repair and replacement of damaged housing; and,
• Offering Section 108 loan guarantee assistance– HUD will offer state and local governments federally guaranteed loans for housing rehabilitation, economic development and repair of public infrastructure.

The CFPB's August 2017 HMDA final rule was published [82 FR 43088] in today's Federal Register.