When you don’t follow the rules, you’re likely to get into a bit of trouble. In this case, JPMorgan Chase found itself party to a lawsuit alleging the company violated a law aimed to protect homeowners. [More]
mortgages
The CFPB Has Only Just Begun Tackling Financial Services In Its First Four Years
By 7.21.14
Four years ago, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was created – and three years ago it opened its doors – as a safeguard to ensure the financial industry followed the rules when selling products and services to consumers – and a lot has happened since that time. [More]
CFPB Clarifies Rule That Could Cause Heirs To Lose Their Homes
By 7.8.14
When the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau implemented rules to protect consumers from getting caught in mortgage “debt traps” earlier this year, the regulators may have missed one section of not-so-typical borrowers: consumers who inherit a family member’s home – mortgage and all. [More]
L.A. Sues JPMorgan Chase For Pushing Minorities Into Cruddy Mortgages
By 5.30.14
After filing similar suits against Well Fargo, Citi, and Bank of America, the city of Los Angeles is now going after JPMorgan Chase for allegedly pushing minority loan applicants into riskier and less-affordable mortgages than they were eligible for. [More]
New Policies Aim To Make It Easier For First-Time Home Buyers To Get Mortgages
By 5.13.14
Some first-time home buyers face an uphill battle when it comes to obtaining a mortgage following the housing crisis. But new policies created by federal regulators aim to make it easier for consumers to buy the home of their dreams. [More]
Could Consumers’ Frustration With Mortgage Closings Be Solved By eClosing System?
By 4.23.14
After months of searching for a home, going through the process of applying for a mortgage, providing support for every speck of dust in your piggy bank (often multiple times), you finally get to closing day, where you’re often rushed through hundreds of papers of documents you’ve never seen before, hoping that you’re not inadvertently signing away your firstborn. Isn’t there something that can be done to make the closing process less daunting and more transparent? [More]
CFPB Receives Double The Consumer Complaints In 2013, But Sought Fewer Explanations
By 4.1.14
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau heard a lot from consumers in 2013. The agency received the most complaints in its history, including those from three new areas – payday loans, money transfers and debt collections. But it appears that fewer complaints were sent to offending companies for review and response. [More]
Complaints Surging, Modifications Decreasing As Loan Servicers Snap Up Mortgages From Banks
By 2.20.14
It’s been a rough few years for homeowners. Since the collapse of a housing bubble in 2008, mortgage-holders have been yanked around every which way by the banks that own their loans. Mega-banks like Wells Fargo and Bank of America have earned their reputations for being impenetrable, hostile bureaucracies to their customers. The industry has done everything from issuing loans that borrowers had no chance of repaying, to “losing” paperwork that distressed borrowers endlessly resend, to foreclosing on borrowers who have actually paid, and even discriminating based on race and gender. [More]
Justice Dept. Sued Over Validity Of $13 Billion Chase Mortgage Settlement
By 2.10.14
Remember back in November when JPMorgan reached the massive $13 billion settlement with the Justice Dept. over allegations tied to toxic mortgage-backed securities sold to investors before the housing market went kerflumpp? A non-profit group filed suit today against the DOJ, challenging the validity of the deal and asking for a court to review it. [More]
CFPB Fines Lender For Hiding Mortgage Kickbacks As Rent Payments
By 1.17.14
The CFPB has ordered a Missouri mortgage lender to pay over $81,000 related to an illegal kickback scheme. [More]
New Rule Requiring Banks To Make Sure Borrowers Can Actually Repay Mortgages Goes Into Effect This Week
By 1.7.14
Want a mortgage? Go for it! But thanks to new rules from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the banks are going to need some proof first that you can actually, you know, pay it back. [More]
Wells Fargo To Pay Fannie Mae $541 Million Over Toxic Loans
By 12.30.13
All those mortgages that weren’t worth the cocktail napkins they were written on are continuing to sting big banks, with Wells Fargo announcing this morning that it had reached a $591 million deal with Fannie Mae to resolve the mortgage-backer’s claims that Wells sold it a pile of loans that the bank knew were toxic. [More]
$13 Billion JPMorgan Settlement Includes $4 Billion In Consumer Relief
By 11.19.13
Today, it’s expected that JPMorgan Chase and various federal agencies will announce a settlement worth a total of $13 billion to put to bed numerous bank-related investigations tied to mortgages and mortgage-backed securities. And about 30% of that money is reportedly earmarked for some form of consumer relief. [More]
Bank Of America Caught Refusing Mortgages To Women On Maternity Leave
By 11.5.13
Compared to $40 billion-plus in penalties, settlements, adjustments, and legal fees Bank of America has already racked up because it flat-out stinks at servicing home loans, a $45,000 payment split between two couples is a molecule in a drop of water in the bucket. But this story, in which BofA decided that pregnant homeowners were too big a risk for mortgage refinancing, is a good reminder of consumers’ rights under the law and of BofA’s general incompetence. [More]
Feds Try To Make Forced-Place Insurance Less Of A Cash Cow For Banks
By 11.5.13
If you have a mortgage but fail to keep current on your homeowners’ insurance, the bank will just go out and get a “forced-place” policy for you. Problem is, you’ll often pay top dollar for insurance that provides minimal coverage while the bank makes money on commissions from the insurer and fees charged to the homeowner. Now the Federal Housing Finance Agency is looking to make forced-place policies slightly less lucrative for lenders. [More]
New York To Sue Wells Fargo For Failure To Comply With $26B Mortgage Settlement
By 10.2.13
Last spring, New York state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman threatened to sue both Bank of America and Wells Fargo, alleging that the banks had repeatedly failed to comply with the 2012 $26 billion settlement between multiple states and the nation’s five largest mortgage servicers. Now the AG intends to make good on that threat by actually filing suit against Wells. [More]
Wells Fargo Settles With Freddie Mac For $869 Million
By 10.1.13
Because a few days can’t go by without one of the few remaining big banks agreeing to pay out hundreds of millions of dollars (without ever admitting any wrongdoing), Wells Fargo has agreed to settle with Freddie Mac for $869 million over — you guessed it — toxic mortgages from the Bubble Era. [More]
