CFPB Plans Heightened Scrutiny of Mortgage Servicing Transfers

CFPB Mortgage Servicing Loss Mitigation

On February 11, the CFPB issued Bulletin 2013-01 to address concerns about "potential risks to consumers" posed by the increased number and size of recent servicing transfers between financial institutions. The guidance states that the CFPB generally will examine such transfers to determine compliance with consumer finance laws, but examiners also will focus on (i) how a transferor has prepared for the transfer of servicing rights, (ii) how a transferee handles the files transferred to it, and (iii) the policies and procedures adopted with regard to transferred loans with loss mitigation in process. The CFPB also plans to require, in appropriate cases, servicers engaged in "significant servicing transfers" to submit written plans detailing how the parties to a transfer will manage consumer risks, and information including: (i) the number of loans involved, (ii) the total servicing volume being transferred, (iii) the name(s) of the servicing platform(s) on which the transferor stored account-level information for transferred loans prior to transfer and information about compatibility with the transferee's systems, (iv) a detailed description of the transaction and system testing to be conducted to ensure accurate transfer of electronic information and a description of the summary report to be generated as a result of this testing, (v) a description of how the transferee will identify and correct errors identified in connection with the transfer, (vi) a description of the training plan and actual training materials for staff involved in reviewing, assessing, utilizing, or communicating information regarding the transferred loans, and (vii) a customer-service plan for responding to loss mitigation inquiries and identifying whether a loan is subject to a pending loss mitigation resolution or application. Servicers will not need CFPB approval of such plans prior to completing a transfer. Finally, the Bulletin offers guidance regarding policies and procedures to comply with the transfer-related aspects of CFPB's recently-issued servicing rules, which become effective on January 14, 2014.