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Top Story Lending Related

03/22/2024

Agencies postpone applicability dates on some parts of CRA update rule

Just eleven days before the effective date of most provisions of their revised Community Reinvestment Act regulations issued in October 2023 (published on February 1, 2024), the Federal Reserve Board, OCC, and FDIC have jointly announced a supplemental interim final rule that extends the applicability date of certain provisions.

To promote clarity and consistency, the agencies extended the applicability date of the facility-based assessment areas and public file provisions from April 1, 2024, to January 1, 2026. Therefore, banks will not have to make changes to their assessment areas or their public files as a result of the 2023 CRA final rule until January 1, 2026. This extension aligns these provisions with other substantive parts of the 2023 CRA final rule that are applicable on January 1, 2026. For example, all provisions about where banks are evaluated will now apply on the same date. Comments on the extended applicability date must be received 45 days after the rule is published in the Federal Register.

The supplemental interim final rule, which becomes effective on April 1, 2024, also includes technical, non-substantive amendments to the CRA final rule and related agency regulations that reference it. For example, one of these technical amendments clarifies that banks do not need to make changes to their public notices until January 1, 2026.

Federal Reserve Board Governor Michelle W. Bowman, who has criticized the October 2023 rule as "unnecessarily complex and extraordinarily lengthy," issued a statement of concern that the change announced yesterday "will not be the only significant issue that will require further consideration given the length and complexity of the final rule as the agencies continue to work toward implementation of the changes. ... This interim final rule illustrates the rushed, overly complex, and unwieldy nature of the CRA rulemaking."

  • FDIC FIL-12-2024
  • Published at 89 FR 22230
  • on 3/29/2024. The supplemental interim final rule will be effective 4/1/2024. Comments will be accepted through May 13, 2024.

03/21/2024

OCC opens registration for Project REACh summit on financial inclusion

The OCC has announced that registration is open for its Project REACh Financial Inclusion Summit on May 29-30, 2024, at its headquarters in Washington, D.C.

The OCC’s Project REACh, or the Roundtable for Economic Access and Change, brings together leaders from the banking industry, national civil rights organizations, business, technology, and community development to identify and reduce specific barriers that prevent underserved and minority communities from full, equal, and fair participation in the nation’s economy.

Registration is required to attend the Summit and is open until May 15, 2024, or until full, whichever occurs first. For security reasons, attendees will be subject to screening and must present a valid government-issued identification to enter the building.

The Summit will be recorded, and the video will be posted to OCC.gov.

Information on how to register to attend the Summit and the agenda are available on the Summit's webpage.

03/20/2024

OCC reports mortgage performance for 4th quarter of 2023

The OCC has reported on the performance of first-lien mortgages in the federal banking system during the fourth quarter of 2023.

The OCC Mortgage Metrics Report, Fourth Quarter 2023 showed that 97.2 percent of mortgages included in the report were current and performing at the end of the quarter, an increase from the 97.1 percent in fourth quarter 2022, and a decrease from the previous quarter’s 97.3 percent. The percentage of seriously delinquent mortgages—mortgages that are 60 or more days past due and all mortgages held by bankrupt borrowers whose payments are 30 or more days past due—increased from the prior quarter; however, it has trended down since the fourth quarter of 2021.

Servicers initiated 8,320 new foreclosures in the fourth quarter of 2023, a decrease from a year earlier and from the previous quarter.

Servicers completed 7,382 modifications during the fourth quarter of 2023, a 0.7 percent decrease from the previous quarter’s 7,436 modifications. Of these 7,382 modifications, 6,416 or 86.9 percent, were “combination modifications”—modifications that included multiple actions affecting the affordability and sustainability of the loan, such as an interest rate reduction and a term extension.

03/19/2024

FHA increases manufactured home loan limits

The Federal Housing Administration has announced new loan limits for its Title I Manufactured Home Loan Program. The increased amounts use new methodologies for calculating and updating the program’s limits, which were announced in a final rule published on February 29, 2024. The increases better align with current market prices and are expected to encourage more lenders to offer the program to homebuyers seeking to purchase manufactured homes and the lots on which they sit. This is the first update to the Title I program loan limits since 2008.

Effective for FHA case numbers assigned on or after March 29, 2024, the new nationwide Title I Manufactured Home Loan Program loan limits are:

  • Combination Loan (Single-section), $148,909
  • Combination Loan (Multi-section), $237,096
  • Manufactured Home Loan (Single-section), $105,532
  • Manufactured Home Loan (Multi-section), $193,719
  • Manufactured Home Lot Loan, $43,377

The FHA will recalculate the program’s loan limits on an annual basis to keep pace with home price changes over time.

03/19/2024

NMLS payments glitch affecting federal users

The NMLS has posted a notice concerning a payment processing issue preventing federal users from submitting payments yesterday. Federal users attempting to make payments received a message indicating NMLS "is currently unavailable" while the processing system was unavailable. Users who received that message yesterday should attempt to complete their payment today.

03/19/2024

ASC hearing addresses appraisal bias

The CFPB yesterday posted a Bureau Blog article, "ASC hearing addresses appraisal bias, highlights deficiencies with The Appraisal Foundation." The article contends that many minority homebuyers and owners "continue to report facing illegal discrimination during the home appraisal process because of their race, national origin, and community demographics."

The Appraisal Foundation sets qualifications for becoming an appraiser and standards for conducting appraisals. CFPB Director Rohit Chopra shared his concerns with fellow financial regulators about whether The Appraisal Foundation can realistically address appraisal bias and other challenges, citing recent developments, including shifting explanations and deficient policies around conflicts of interest. The key issues raised in Director Chopra's comment letter include:

  • Severe deficiencies in The Appraisal Foundation’s conflict of interest policies raise questions about its regulatory decisions
  • The Appraisal Foundation’s insular governance structure favors private interests
  • The Appraisal Foundation’s processes, including the selection of its president, lack transparency

03/19/2024

Two lenders fined $59M; falsely promised fast PPP application processing

The Federal Trade Commission yesterday reported it has taken action against two companies – Biz2Credit and Womply – that made false promises to small businesses seeking to take part in the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), delaying and sometimes preventing them from obtaining funds they needed to keep their businesses afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The companies have agreed to settle the FTC’s charges against them: Biz2Credit will pay $33 million and Womply will pay $26 million to the FTC for small businesses harmed by their deceptive conduct. These are the largest damages amounts ever secured by the agency under Section 19 of the FTC Act, and include money consumers lost because of the companies’ conduct, even if consumers made no payments directly to the companies.

Biz2Credit, Inc., and its subsidiary, Itria Ventures, have agreed to pay $33 million in damages to settle the Commission’s charges that they deceptively advertised that consumers’ emergency PPP loan applications would be processed in an average of 10-14 business days when, in reality, the average processing took well over a month. The FTC’s complaint alleges that Biz2Credit’s application processing was riddled with delays, and the average processing time was double what the defendants claimed, with tens of thousands of consumers waiting more than two months for a final determination. Even though they were aware of these delays, the defendants continued to make their false timing claims to consumers until nearly the end of the program. The FTC’s complaint also says that Biz2Credit unfairly ignored many consumers’ repeated and urgent pleas to withdraw their loan applications. As a result, the defendants delayed and sometimes even prevented these consumers from obtaining PPP funds elsewhere.

[UPDATE Mar. 26, 2024: A spokesperson for Biz2Credit provided a statement regarding its settlement with the FTC saying, in part, that "Biz2Credit demonstrated to the FTC that its 12-14 business day average processing time estimate for PPP loans was accurate for all bona fide PPP loan applications. Fraudulent and ineligible applications, which took longer to process, were included by the FTC in its calculations. Biz2Credit carefully reviewed and ultimately declined applications that it determined were potentially fraudulent or ineligible under PPP program rules. ... Biz2Credit’s decision to enter into the FTC settlement was a pragmatic business decision given the cost and uncertainty of litigation. There was no admission of wrongdoing by Biz2Credit in the settlement."]

Womply and its CEO, Toby Scammell, have agreed to pay $26 million to settle FTC charges they preyed on small businesses in desperate need of PPP funding. The FTC’s complaint alleges they widely advertised that small businesses – particularly one-person businesses like gig workers – could successfully get PPP funding when they applied through Womply. The complaint charges, however, that more than 60 percent of Womply applications never resulted in funding. Womply and Scammell allegedly also advertised that their automated processes and good customer service would help small businesses secure PPP loans fast. In fact, applicants regularly faced significant issues that slowed down or fully hindered their applications and were often unable to receive customer service assistance they were promised, according to the complaint.

03/11/2024

Regulators to publish temporary exceptions to FIRREA appraisal requirement

The Federal Reserve Board, OCC, FDIC, and NCUA have jointly scheduled Federal Register publication tomorrow (March 12, 2024) of temporary exceptions to FIRREA appraisal requirements for real estate-related financial transactions, provided certain criteria are met, in an area in the State of Hawaii following the major disaster declared by President Biden as a result of wildfires. The expiration date for the exceptions is August 10, 2026, which is three years after the date the President declared the major disaster. The agencies' order will be effective on publication.

The agencies also have determined that the exceptions are consistent with safety and soundness, provided that the depository institution determines the following: (1) the transaction involves real property located in the area designated [Maui County] as adversely affected by the major disaster; (2) there is a binding commitment to fund the transaction that was entered into on or after August 10, 2023, but no later than August 10, 2026; and (3) the value of the real property supports the institution’s decision to enter into the transaction. In addition, the transaction must continue to be subject to review by management and by the agencies in the course of examinations of the institution.

03/11/2024

CFPB shifts 'junk fees' focus to residential mortgage loans

In a March 8, 2024, blog article, the CFPB has signaled a shift of its "junk fees" campaign to residential real estate loans and their closing costs.

According to the article, in 2022, the median amount paid by borrowers for total loan costs (origination fees, appraisal and credit report fees, title insurance, discount points, and other fees) was nearly $6,000. Many of these costs are fixed and do not fluctuate with interest rates or change based on the size of the loan. As a result, they have an outsized impact on borrowers with smaller mortgages, such as lower income borrowers, first-time homebuyers, and borrowers living in Black and Hispanic communities. A 2021 Fannie Mae study found that nearly 15 percent of lower income homebuyers had closing costs that exceeded the amount of their down payment.

The article reports the Bureau is paying particular attention to the recent rise in discount points. A higher percentage of borrowers reported paying discount points in 2022 than any other years since this data point was first reported in 2018. In 2022 about 50.2 percent of home purchase borrowers paid some discount points, up from 32.1 in 2021. Borrowers are also paying more in discount points. The median discount points paid for home purchase loans in 2022 was $2,370 in 2022, up from $1,225 in 2021. Lenders sell discount points to borrowers to reduce interest rates.

The article also said it appears that some closing costs are high and increasing because there is little competition. Borrowers are required to pay for many of the costs associated with closing a home loan but cannot pick the provider and do not benefit from the service. In many cases, the lender simply picks from a very small universe of providers, and the costs are then passed on to the borrower, and cites lender;s title insurance as one example of a fee borrowers face at closing where the borrower has no control over cost. Fees for credit reports are another example cited in the article.

03/08/2024

Trade groups sue CFPB to stop credit card late fees rule

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce announced it has filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Fort Worth Division seeking a preliminary injunction to stop the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) from implementing its rule to limit credit card late fees, arguing that the CFPB not only exceeded its statutory authority but did so by relying on the use of secret data collected for an unrelated purpose.

The Chamber and co-plaintiffs Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, Longview Chamber of Commerce, American Bankers Association, Consumer Bankers Association, and Texas Association of Business, allege that the CFPB—

  • Violated the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act (CARD Act) by preventing issuers from collecting reasonable and proportional late fees when cardholders do not pay their bills on time;
  • Violated the Administrative Procedures Act (APA) by promulgating a final rule that is arbitrary and capricious, relying on secret data collected from only the largest banks for a different purpose and by a different agency; and
  • Issued the rulemaking with funds drawn in violation of the U.S. Constitution's Appropriations Clause.

The plaintiffs also filed a motion for a preliminary injunction that would bar the CFPB from enforcing, applying, or implementing the final rule, and a brief in support of that motion.

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