Just two short months after the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced its COVID-19 mortgage servicing final rule, the effective date of August 31, 2021, is here. As we noted in our detailed breakdown of the final rule and corresponding webinar, the final rule poses new risks and challenges for mortgage servicers attempting to navigate the already complex COVID-19 landscape. If you’re reading this post, you likely know that the new foreclosure “procedural safeguards”…

Yesterday, in Community Financial Services Association of America, Ltd. v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a lawsuit involving implementation of the payment provisions of the Payday, Vehicle Title, and Certain High-Cost Installment Loans Regulation (the “Small Dollar Rule”), the district court ruled on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) and the Community Financial Services Association’s (CFSA) cross motions for summary judgment. Specifically, the court granted the CFPB’s motion and denied the CFSA’s motion and entered final…

Despite the cannabis industry’s explosive growth, many financial institutions have been hesitant to transact with cannabis-related businesses given the ambiguity created by divergent state and federal cannabis laws. The SAFE Banking Act seeks to remove these ambiguities at the federal level and pave the way for more financial institutions to serve the cannabis industry. But this is not the first time Congress has tried to pass the Act, and while bipartisan support has increased, obstacles…

In a ruling that will provide guidance on when lenders must raise a foreclosure counterclaim in a borrower lawsuit, the South Carolina Court of Appeals in Deutsche Bank National Trust Company v. Estate of Patricia Ann Owens Houck has held that foreclosure was not a compulsory counterclaim in a borrower’s suit alleging errors in origination. In 2013, the mortgagors sued Deutsche Bank and the loan servicer, alleging errors in the origination of their loan, including…

Over the years, we have followed actions of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and published information that can be found on our Financial Services Perspectives blog. Now that the 10-year anniversary of the CFPB opening its doors has passed, let’s take a look back at where it started and where it may be going. Title X of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 (the Dodd-Frank Act) created the CFPB as an independent…

In late July, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) made several important revisions to the Single Family Policy Handbook 4000.1. The new guidance is part of a series of changes recently announced by the Biden-era FHA, including guidance related to COVID-19 recovery loss mitigation options. Describing the changes as primarily “enhancements and revisions” and “technical edits,” the agency states in its release that it: remains committed to making it easier for mortgagees to conduct business…

Late last week, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released an interpretive rule that provided much-welcome guidance related to the effect of the new Juneteenth National Independence Day on disclosure waiting periods under the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure (TRID) rule. According to CFPB Acting Director David Uejio, the Bureau “understand[s] that the quick enactment of the federal Juneteenth legislation created interpretive questions and compliance challenges for the mortgage industry with respect to rescission of closed-end…