As the debate over how to reform the housing finance market takes a back seat to the 2012 General Election, Dodd-Frank’s statutory changes to mortgage servicing will see no delay in its implementation.  On April 10, 2012, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released its first set of proposed mortgage servicing rules:

“The proposed rules currently under consideration aim to protect consumers from surprises by directing servicers to provide:

• Clear monthly mortgage statements that explicitly breakdown principal, interest, fees, escrow, and due dates
• Warnings before adjusting interest rates on certain adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) that explain how the new rate was determined, when it will take effect, dates of future adjustments, and a list of alternatives for consumers to consider
• Options for avoiding expensive “forced-placed” insurance, which is insurance charged to borrowers by servicers when their existing insurance appears to have lapsed
• Early outreach to struggling borrowers that informs them of potential options to avoid foreclosure

We also want to address the issue of consumers getting the “run-around” when dealing with servicers.  To accomplish this, the Bureau is considering proposals that would require:

• Payments to be credited to consumer accounts the day payment is received
• Implementing new policies and procedures so that records are kept up-to-date and accessible
• Quickly addressing and correcting errors
• Giving homeowners direct and ongoing access to servicer staff members who have access to the homeowners’ records and can actually help address their issue(s)”

The rules are scheduled to become effective in early 2013 unless the Bureau issues finals rules first.  An outline of the proposals under consideration was also posted on the Bureau’s website.

To learn more about these proposed changes to mortgage servicing as well as other housing reforms arising out of the financial crisis, please register for “The Foreclosure Crisis: Challenges and Solutions to the Mortgage Meltdown,” Friday, April 13, 2012 at the International House on the U.C. Berkeley Campus, and stay tuned as we live-blog the event throughout the day.

On April 5, 2012, U.S. District Court Judge Rosemary Collyer approved the $25 billion settlement negotiated on February 9, 2012, between 49 states and the federal government and five banks – Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and Ally Financial.  The deal, the largest multistate settlement since the Tobacco Settlement in 1998, settles federal and state claims against five of the largest banks in the United States for what has become known as “robo-signing”: signing foreclosure related documents outside of the presence of a notary public and without ensuring the documents were correct.

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Updating a prior post on the impact of the Concepcion decision, two recent lower court cases have demonstrated the limits of Concepcion’s reach and identify at least two particular claims that could render class-action waivers unenforceable: unconscionability and Magnuson-Moss Act claims.

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Not entirely—at least that’s the conclusion according to this article in the most recent ABA Infrastructure issue. The key holding of the Supreme Court decision in AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion–that the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) preempts any state rule invalidating class-action waivers (such as the Discover Bank v. Super. Ct. rule in California prohibiting non-class arbitration clauses)–significantly bolsters the already superior bargaining power of defendants in class-action suits and undermines the ability ofconsumers to even undertake these suits. (There is already some evidence that banks have increased adoption of arbitration clauses as a result of the decision)

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When the Obama Administration released the Treasury’s white paper to propose reforms to the national housing finance market, it also called for the establishment of national standards for mortgage servicing.  The paper put forth a set of basic proposals to reform mortgage servicing and foreclosure processing practices but stopped short of comprehensive and detailed solutions.  Recently, however, Acting Chairman of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, John Walsh, went further and provided the first glimpse in his testimony at the Senate Banking Committee of what could form the backbone of national mortgage servicing standards.

These new standards come on the heels of reports that federal regulators will be taking legal action against the 14 largest U.S. mortgage servicers for failure to comply with foreclosure laws and for the pervasive problems that arose out of processing foreclosures.   Also, a new NERA study looks at the economic implications of foreclosure suspensions and potential litigation related to problems associated mortgage servicing and foreclosure processing.

James Nguyen, National Mortgage Servicing Standards and Looming Litigation, Berkeley Bus. L.J. Network (February 23, 2011), http://thenetwork.berkeleylawblogs.org/2011/02/23/national-mortgage-servicing-standards-and-looming-litigation/.