InfoBytes Blog
CSBS responds to Waters on state supervisory activities
On August 26, the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) sent a letter to House Financial Services Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) detailing information on CSBS' response to the Covid-19 pandemic related to supervisory efforts, policy initiatives, and mortgage servicing plans. The letter is in response to an August 5th letter from Chairwoman Waters to CSBS, CFPB, OCC, NCUA, FDIC, and Fed asking the agencies, among other things, to immediately update the “Joint Statement on Supervisory and Enforcement Practices Regarding the Mortgage Servicing Rules in Response to the COVID-19 Emergency and the CARES Act dated April 3, 2020,” and to take other steps to “provide vigorous oversight and encourage mortgage servicers to work with borrowers to avoid unnecessary foreclosures.”
The letter from the CSBS detailed the consumer protection and supervision efforts of state regulators during the Covid-19 pandemic, noting that they have “monitored the activities of mortgage originators and servicers … and have acted responsively and decisively with expanded examination approaches, new policy, and public guidance.” The letter expanded on these actions by setting forth its efforts in “three very broad categories”: networked supervision, direct supervision, and supervision policy. In the latter two categories, CSBS noted the steps it has taken during the pandemic to “remain vigilant to signs of unwarranted foreclosure activity or other consumer harm.” The letter also agreed that the “states’ dual mandate to protect consumers and ensure a healthy economic environment has been the appropriate approach” during Covid-19.