The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that Patriot Bank (Patriot or Bank) has agreed to pay $1.9 million to resolve allegations that the Bank engaged in a pattern or practice of redlining majority-Black and Hispanic neighborhoods in Memphis, Tennessee from 2015 to at least 2020, in violation of the Fair Housing Act (FHA) and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA).… Continue Reading

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) recently published another FHFA Insights blog post addressing the underutilization of appraisal time adjustments by appraisers that is a companion to an FHFA Insights blog post that we reported on previously. In the recent blog post, the FHFA presents the question “Is the racial disparity in underappraisal, or some portion of it, due to racial disparities in the practice of time adjustment?”… Continue Reading

On February 27, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral argument in Cantero v. Bank of America, N.A., a case involving the scope of preemption under the National Bank Act (NBA).  The question before the Court is whether the NBA preempts a New York statute requiring banks to pay interest on mortgage escrow accounts. … Continue Reading

We discuss various issues faced by lenders and servicers when attempting to foreclose on “zombie” mortgages, meaning second mortgages on which the borrower has not made a payment for a considerable period of time and the lender or servicer has not previously taken action to foreclose.  First, we look at the CFPB’s May 2023 advisory guidance on the enforcement of time-barred mortgage loans. … Continue Reading

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) recently published a FHFA Insights blog post that cites the underutilization of appraisal time adjustments by appraisers.

The FHFA states that “[i]n principle, appraisers can consider price changes that have occurred since the time the [comparable properties used in the appraisal] sold and make adjustments known as market conditions adjustments or time adjustments.… Continue Reading

The CFPB recently announced that the platform for the submission of Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data collected in 2023 is now available for the submission of the data. The platform may be accessed here. HMDA data for 2023 must be submitted on or before March 1, 2024.

A beta testing version of the platform also is available and may be accessed here.… Continue Reading

This New Year is setting up to be a momentous one for the consumer financial services industry in the United States Supreme Court. In 2024, the Supreme Court is expected to decide four impactful cases that may hold that the CFPB’s funding is unconstitutional, eliminate giving deference to CFPB, FTC and federal banking agency regulations, severely narrow National Bank Act (NBA) preemption of state laws, and limit the time during which a plaintiff may sue an agency to facially challenge an agency rule.… Continue Reading

The CFPB recently issued a final rule increasing the asset exemption threshold under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) and a final rule increasing the asset exemption threshold for the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) requirement to maintain an escrow account for a higher-priced mortgage loan (HPML).

Banks, savings associations and credit unions are not subject to HMDA for a calendar year if their assets as of December 31 of the prior calendar year did not exceed an asset threshold.… Continue Reading