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The FDIC Board yesterday announced it has approved a final rule to strengthen resolution planning for insured depository institutions (IDIs) with at least $50 billion in total assets. After careful consideration of comments received, the FDIC issued a final rule that incorporates several changes from the agency’s proposed rule published in September of 2023.

Under the rule announced yesterday, the FDIC will require large banks with total assets of at least $100 billion to submit comprehensive resolution plans that meet enhanced standards to support the FDIC’s ability to undertake an efficient and effective resolution under the Federal Deposit Insurance Act should such an institution fail.

The rule will require IDIs with total assets of at least $50 billion but less than $100 billion to submit more limited “informational filings” to assist in their potential resolution. The agency will not require these institutions to develop a resolution strategy and related valuation information as part of their submissions. These institutions are also exempt from submitting certain strategy-related content requirements regarding the institution’s franchise components.

The new rule strengthens the existing IDI resolution planning framework under 12 CFR § 360.10 by requiring a full resolution submission from most covered IDIs every three years with limited supplements filed in the off years. Covered IDIs affiliated with U.S. global systemically important banking organizations must file a full resolution submission every two years.

The final rule will take effect on October 1, 2024, and the first submissions are expected next year.

• Fact sheet
• FIL-34-2024
• Statement by Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael J. Hsu
• Statement by CFPB Director Rohit Chopra
• Publication update: Published at 89 FR 56620 in the 7/9/2024 Federal Register

The OCC yesterday announced its approval of a final rule to implement quality control standards for automated valuation models used by mortgage originators and secondary market issuers in valuing residential real estate collateral securing mortgage loans.

The rule was reportedly also approved yesterday by the Board of the FDIC. It is to be jointly issued by the OCC, Federal Reserve Board, FDIC, NCUA, CFPB, and the Federal Housing Finance Agency following approval by each of the agencies. It will be effective at the start of the first calendar quarter following the date that is 12 months after the rule is published in the Federal Register

The FDIC has updated its Consumer Compliance Examination Manual. The June 2024 updates were made to sections II-14.1 (Violations Codes), IV-1.1 (Truth in Lending Act), and XI-1.1 (Community Reinvestment Act).

The Federal Housing Finance Agency has released its latest report on the sale of non-performing loans (NPLs) by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The sale of NPLs reduces the number of deeply delinquent loans in the Enterprises’ portfolios and transfers credit risk to the private sector. FHFA and the Enterprises impose requirements on NPL buyers designed to achieve more favorable outcomes for borrowers than foreclosure.

This report shows that the Enterprises sold 168,364 NPLs with a total unpaid principal balance (UPB) of $30.9 billion from program inception in 2014 through December 31, 2023. The loans included in the NPL sales had an average delinquency of 2.8 years and an average current mark-to-market loan-to-value (LTV) ratio of 83 percent (not including capitalized arrearages).

The OCC has reported the key issues facing the federal banking system in its Semiannual Risk Perspective for Spring 2024.

The OCC reported that the overall condition of the federal banking system remains sound. However, the maturing economic cycle may cause consumer headwinds. It is important for banks to continue identifying material risks and their interconnected impacts. Continuous risk management improvement remains appropriate as this allows banks to guard against complacency.

The OCC highlighted credit, market, operational, and compliance risks as the key risk themes in the report.

The CFPB on Tuesday announced it had filed a proposed stipulated order, which, if entered by the court, would impose injunctive relief designed to prevent Freedom Mortgage from violating the law in the future, including requirements to regularly audit, test, and correct the company’s HMDA data. It would also require Freedom to pay a $3.95 million civil money penalty.

In October 2023, the CFPB sued Freedom Mortgage, a nonbank mortgage company headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida, for violating both the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) and a 2019 CFPB order.The CFPB proposed the order because Freedom Mortgage has submitted incorrect mortgage data in violation of HMDA, the 2019 order, and the Consumer Financial Protection Act. Freedom Mortgage’s HMDA data submission for 2020 contained widespread errors across numerous data fields because of systemic problems with its compliance management systems. The company’s HMDA violations occurred while Freedom Mortgage was subject to the 2019 law enforcement order.

On Tuesday, the CFPB ordered a reverse mortgage servicing operation to stop illegal activities that harmed older homeowners and caused them to fear losing their homes. The CFPB found that the customer service operation of Sutherland Global, its subsidiaries Sutherland Government Solutions and Sutherland Mortgage Services, and NOVAD Management Consulting had inadequate resources and staffing to handle as many as 150,000 borrowers. This caused systematic failures to respond to thousands of homeowner requests for assistance, and caused financial harm to borrowers, including losing out on home sales and paying unnecessary costs.

The orders permanently ban Sutherland Global, Sutherland Government Solutions, and NOVAD from engaging in reverse mortgage activities, imposes strict compliance requirements on future reverse mortgage activities of Sutherland Mortgage Services, requires the Sutherland companies to pay $11.5 million in redress to affected consumers, and requires all companies to pay a civil penalty of approximately $5 million, which will be deposited in the CFPB’s victims relief fund.

Sutherland and NOVAD formed a loan servicing operation to service reverse mortgages on behalf of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The loan servicing operation existed from 2014 through 2022, and was responsible for servicing reverse mortgages for as many as 150,000 older borrowers every year.

Under federal law, a servicer must respond to consumer requests for information about their loan in a timely manner. That requirement is important to protect reverse mortgage borrowers, who remain responsible for property taxes, insurance, and other applicable fees and assessments. However, many borrowers could not get in contact with anyone at the loan servicing operation. In fact, the companies systematically failed to respond to thousands of homeowner requests for loan payoff statements, short sales, deeds-in-lieu of foreclosures, lien releases, and requests for general information. The companies allowed problems to fester to critical points, which resulted in borrowers losing out on home sales, paying unnecessary costs, and fearing foreclosure.

The CFPB found that Sutherland and NOVAD violated both the Consumer Financial Protection Act and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act. Specifically, the companies harmed older adults with a reverse mortgage by failing to communicate with homeowners, thus preventing homeowners from being able to prove occupancy, obtain loan payoff statements, and complete alternatives to foreclosure. The CFPB also found that the companies sent false repayment letters to older adult homeowners stating that their reverse mortgage loans were due and must be paid within 30 days due to a default condition, when no such trigger event had occurred. The companies would then improperly ignore attempts by reverse mortgage borrowers to address and correct the “due and payable” letters.

• Consent order against Sutherland
• Consent order against NOVAD

The NCUA has announced it has placed 1st Choice Credit Union, Atlanta, Georgia, in conservatorship in consultation with the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance. Member services will continue uninterrupted at both of the credit union’s branches in Atlanta. Members can continue to conduct normal financial transactions, deposit and access funds, make loan payments, and use shares. The offices are open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Eastern time.

1st Choice Credit Union is a federally insured, state-chartered credit union with 6,709 members and assets of approximately $38.6 million, according to the credit union’s most recent Call Report. It serves employees of Grady Hospital, Morehouse School of Medicine faculty, Emory University School of Medicine faculty, Southside Healthcare, Atlanta Life Insurance Company, South Fulton Community Development Corporation, credit union staff, and family members.

The Department of Defense's Military Lending Act (MLA) website has posted a notice that its next system release (version 5.20) is scheduled for Thursday, June 27, 2024. The update includes an update to the login process to eliminate a known issue caused by extras spaces in the Username field. It also includes additional security and accessibility enhancements.

The MLA website will not be available from 6:00 P.M. until 9:00 P.M. PDT [9:00 P.M. until midnight EDT] while the update is being applied.

• A Formal Agreement with Credit Suisse AG New York Branch, New York, NY, to address deficiencies in the branch’s compliance related to the Bank Secrecy Act and other anti-money laundering laws and regulations. The branch’s execution of this formal agreement was a condition for the branch’s conversion to a federal license. The provisions of the formal agreement are substantially the same as a December 2020 written agreement between the branch and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the New York State Department of Financial Services.
• A Formal Agreement with Touchmark National Bank, Alpharetta, GA, for unsafe or unsound practices, including those relating to the bank’s strategic planning, board and management oversight, liquidity risk management, interest risk management, credit risk management, audit, and information technology.

• Manuel Alejandro Ramirez Perez, former relationship banker and credit solutions advisor at Bonita Springs and North Naples, Florida, branches of Bank of America, N.A., Charlotte, NC, for improperly accessing customer accounts and providing information on those accounts to a third-party individual.
• Aviana Rivera, former personal banker at a Bryan, Texas, branch of First National Bank Texas, Killeen, TX, for embezzling $11,500 from the account of a bank customer.