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New Jersey appeals court says statute of limitations does not apply in allegedly fraudulent mortgage application
On July 13, the Superior Court of New Jersey Appellate Division reversed a trial court’s decision, ruling that a deceased homeowner’s family (defendants) had provided sufficient evidence to show that a division of a national bank (lender) had knowingly engaged in predatory lending practices when it approved a fraudulent mortgage application in violation of the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act (Act). According to the opinion, in 2007 when the now deceased homeowner purchased a house, the lender may have been complicit in creating and approving a fraudulent loan application that, among other things, stated falsely that (i) the homeowner was a small business owner with a monthly income of $30,000 rather than $1,500, and (ii) the down payment came from the homeowner, when it supposedly came from a second mortgage offered to him from the same lender. The homeowner defaulted on payments in 2010 and passed away in 2012. In 2015, the defendants responded to a foreclosure complaint filed by the bank, alleging that the Act barred plaintiff’s claims due to the lender’s fraudulent actions, including the aforementioned material misrepresentations. However, the trial court granted summary judgment to the lender on the grounds that claims of fraud brought by the defendants were “untenable” and outside the statute of limitations. The appellate court disagreed and remanded to allow for discovery, ruling that the defendants were permitted to introduce evidence of fraud in defense of the homeowner’s estate even through the statute of limitations had expired. “The doctrine of equitable recoupment permits a defendant to assert an otherwise stale claim and avoid the statute of limitations, where the defendant uses the claim as a shield instead of a sword,” the appellate court stated.
Fannie Mae updates Reverse Mortgage Loan Servicing Manual
On July 11, Fannie Mae issued RVS-2018-02, which updates the Reverse Mortgage Loan Servicing Manual to include changes related to REO Hazard Insurance Coverage Requirements for Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) mortgages. Specifically, the update requires a servicer to place a property insurance policy on acquired property up to the HUD foreclosure appraisal amount or deed-in-lieu property valuation amount, in accordance with HUD guidelines. If the servicer is unable to obtain either of these valuation amounts, the servicer must place coverage up to the unpaid principal balance amount. Servicers are required to implement the changes no later than October 1 for new and existing HECM properties in REO inventory.
California Court of Appeal: State required to return $331 million to mortgage settlement fund
On July 10, the California Third District Court of Appeal reversed in part a Superior Court’s 2015 decision to abstain from issuing a writ directing the Legislature to appropriate funds to restore the money the state allegedly unlawfully took out of the National Mortgage Settlement Deposit Fund (the NMS Deposit Fund). The NMS Deposit Fund was created in 2012 to hold the state’s share of $2.5 billion allocated as part of a settlement agreement reached between the federal government, 49 states, and five of the largest U.S. mortgage servicers. (See previous InfoBytes coverage here on the 2012 settlement.) According to the opinion, three groups filed a lawsuit in 2014 against California Governor Jerry Brown and the state’s director of finance and controller alleging they unlawfully diverted money from the NMS Deposit Fund to make bond payments and offset general fund expenditures. The groups sought a writ of mandate compelling the state government to pay back approximately $350 million in diverted funds. While the Superior Court agreed that the money had been improperly diverted, the court asserted it lacked “constitutional authority” to restore the funds; however, the court ordered the state to restore the funds “as soon as there is a sufficient appropriation ‘reasonably’ and ‘generally’ available for such purpose.” Conversely, the Third District Court of Appeal disagreed, citing to case law supporting the groups’ position that the court could order the money back. Among other things, under the law, the money still belongs in the NMS Deposit Fund, and not in the state’s General Fund. Furthermore, the fact that the state’s director of finance unlawfully diverted the money in contravention of state law and the settlement’s terms only makes for a “more compelling case” that the Superior Court should have issued a writ.
Fannie Mae announces Enterprise-Paid Mortgage Insurance Pilot
On July 10, Fannie Mae announced the Enterprise-Paid Mortgage Insurance (EPMI) pilot program, which offers an alternative to the standard borrower-paid mortgage insurance and lender-paid mortgage insurance options offered by private mortgage insurance companies. The EPMI program will allow lenders to deliver Fannie Mae a loan with a greater than 80 percent loan-to-value without lender-acquired private mortgage insurance as long as the lender pays a loan-level price adjustment fee. The EPMI option would then cover the loan under a forward insurance arrangement, which is acquired by Fannie Mae. Fannie Mae would also be responsible for filing the insurance claims and performing monthly reporting.
The initial roll-out was offered to “a diverse, representative cross-section of large, medium, and small lenders” and is subject to a volume limit. Participating lenders may begin delivering EPMI loans to Fannie Mae on or after August 1.
FDIC provides relief for storm-hit areas of Texas
On July 3, the FDIC issued Financial Institution Letter FIL-37-2018 to provide regulatory relief to financial institutions and facilitate recovery in areas of Texas affected by severe storms and flooding from June 19 through the present. The FDIC is encouraging institutions to consider, among other things, extending repayment terms and restructuring existing loans that may be affected by the natural disasters. Additionally, the FDIC notes that institutions may receive favorable Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) consideration for community development loans, investments, and services in support of disaster recovery.
Court preliminarily approves $11.2 million settlement for post-payment interest charges on FHA mortgages
On July 5, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa preliminarily approved a $11.2 million settlement in a proposed class action against a national bank for allegedly improperly charging interest on pre-paid FHA-insured mortgages. According to the complaint filed in 2016, the bank charged post-payment interest on FHA-insured mortgages without providing the proper disclosures required by FHA. Specifically, the complaint alleges that the bank did not use the FHA-approved form to provide the disclosures to consumers. The settlement requires the bank to place $11.2 million in an escrow account for class distributions; settlement expenses; and attorneys’ fees, which, according to settlement documents, will not exceed 28 percent. The court found that the settlement fell “within the range of reasonableness” and met the requirements for preliminary approval.
FDIC issues disaster relief guidance for storm affected areas of Hawaii
On July 3, the FDIC issued Financial Institution Letter FIL-35-2018 to provide regulatory relief to financial institutions and facilitate recovery in areas of Hawaii affected by severe storms, flooding, landslides, and mudslides from April 13 through April 16. The FDIC is encouraging institutions to consider, among other things, extending repayment terms and restructuring existing loans that may be affected by the natural disasters. Additionally, the FDIC notes that institutions may receive favorable Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) consideration for certain development loans, investments, and services in support of disaster recovery.
International bank settles with Illinois Attorney General for $20 million for alleged RMBS misconduct
On July 3, the Illinois Attorney General announced a settlement with an international bank to resolve allegations of misconduct in the bank’s marketing and sale of residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) in the lead-up to the 2008 financial crisis. According to the press release, the bank allegedly failed to disclose accurately the risk of the RMBS investments when selling the securities. Under the terms of the settlement, the bank has agreed to pay $20 million to the state, which will be divided between three state retirement systems. This settlement follows several other RMBS-related actions taken by the Attorney General.
As previously covered in InfoBytes, earlier in March, the bank reached a settlement with the New York Attorney General to resolve similar allegations.
CFPB, OCC, and FDIC release statement on HMDA exemption in regulatory relief act
On July 5, the CFPB issued a statement regarding the implementation of the partial HMDA exemptions in the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (the Act), S.2155/ P.L. 115-174, which was signed into law by President Trump on May 24. As previously covered by InfoBytes, the Act provides an exemption from HMDA’s expanded data reporting requirements for banks and credit unions that originate fewer than 500 open-end and 500 closed-end mortgages (the provision would not apply to nonbanks and would not exempt institutions from HMDA reporting altogether). Although the statement emphasizes that the Act will not affect the format of the Loan/Application Register (LAR) for HMDA data collected in 2018—which should still be formatted in accordance with the Filing Instructions Guide issued in February (covered by InfoBytes here)—the Bureau stated that it intends to provide guidance later this summer on the Act, including an exemption code for institutions that are not reporting a particular field due to the Act’s partial exemptions.
Additionally, the statement reiterated the Bureau’s December 2017 announcement that it will not require resubmissions for 2018 HMDA data, unless there are material errors; and penalties will not be assessed with respect to errors in the 2018 data. The CFPB notes that institutions should focus the 2018 data collection on identifying areas for improvement in their HMDA compliance management systems for future years. The Bureau further advised that it expects that supervisory examinations of 2018 HMDA data will be “diagnostic” to help “identify compliance weaknesses, and will credit good-faith compliance efforts.”
The OCC issued a similar announcement with OCC Bulletin 2018-19. The FDIC issued a similar announcement with FIL-36-2018.
Connecticut governor signs amendments to state banking statutes
On June 14, the governor of Connecticut signed HB 5490, which makes various amendments to the state’s banking statutes, including standardizing various requirements across several mortgage and nonmortgage licensing types. Among other things, the law (i) extends the commissioner’s authority over certain mortgage-related licensees (mortgage lenders, brokers, and originators; correspondent lenders, and processors or underwriters) to include small loan lenders, sales finance companies, sales finance companies, mortgage servicers, money transmitters, check cashers, debt adjustors, debt negotiators, consumer collection agencies, student loan servicers, and lead generators; (ii) outlines provisions concerning the commissioner’s authority to conduct investigations and examinations; (iii) establishes that for loans under $5,000, the maximum annual percentage rate (APR) shall not exceed the lesser of 36 percent or the maximum APR for interest “permitted with respect to the consumer credit extended under the Military Lending Act”; and (iv) requires sales finance companies to acquire, maintain, and report to the commissioner certain demographic information on ethnicity, race, and sex for any retail installment contract or application for such contract covering the sale of a motor vehicle. The law is effective October 1, with the exception of specified provisions.