January 17, 2013
CFPB Issues New Rules To Protect Homeowners in Foreclosure
The CFPB issued new rules today that increase protections for homeowners in foreclosure. The 2013 Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (Regulation X) and Truth in Lending Act (Regulation Z) Mortgage Servicing Final Rules. These rules are a first national standard … Continue reading
January 17, 2013 in Regulation | Permalink | No Comments
January 16, 2013
Federal Involvement in Real Estate — It’s Big!
SmartGrowth America has issued an interesting report, Federal Involvement in Real Estate: A Call for Examination, which provides a high level summary of the topic. While it does not contain any surprises, it is somewhat shocking to see the range … Continue reading
January 16, 2013 in Regulation | Permalink | No Comments
January 15, 2013
Land Use Controls Caused The Financial Crisis?
Respected Housng Economist Edwin Mills and co-author B.N. Jansen write in their article, “Distortions Resulting from Residential Land Use Controls in Metropolitan Areas”, The strong conclusion of this paper is that stringent residential land use controls were a primary cause of … Continue reading
January 15, 2013 in Regulation | Permalink | No Comments
January 10, 2013
CFPB Releases Ability-To-Repay and Qualified Mortgage Final Rules
The CFPB has released the final rules relating to ability-to-repay and Qualified Mortgages. The CFPB’s Summary is currently available. The big news is that qualified mortgages do NOT have a minimum down payment requirement. This was a very big bone … Continue reading
January 10, 2013 in Regulation | Permalink | No Comments
January 9, 2013
SEC Staff Report on Rating Agencies Goes Through The Motions
The SEC staff report required by Dodd Frank section 939F looks like it is just going through the motions. It is poorly organized and marred by poor analysis. It is unclear what it is trying to achieve, other than complying … Continue reading
January 9, 2013 in Regulation | Permalink | No Comments
January 8, 2013
Republicans Issue Report Critical of CFPB’s Regulation of Mortgage Markets
The staff of the House’s Committee on Oversight and Government Reform issued a report that argues that the CFPB is “predisposed to limit access to credit;” “will increase regulatory burdens and reduce credit availability;” and has inadequate mechanisms to “detect … Continue reading
January 8, 2013 in Regulation | Permalink | No Comments
January 7, 2013
S&P Predicts Residential Mortgage Finance To Improve in 2013
S&P’s report has a couple of interesting predictions: Although the GSEs (government-sponsored entities, such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) have been vital players in the U.S. mortgage finance market, 2012 was a strong year for mortgage banking, largely because … Continue reading
January 7, 2013 in Regulation | Permalink | No Comments
