What Happened? Both the FHA and VA have established new loss mitigation options to provide payment reduction to delinquent borrowers. On February 21, 2024, the Federal Housing Administration (“FHA”) within the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”) issued a new mortgagee letter (ML 2024-02) which, among other things, establishes the Payment Supplement loss […]
Mortgage Servicing
Fannie Mae Issues Guidance in Response to New York Foreclosure Abuse Prevention Act
What Happened? On March 13, 2024, Fannie Mae issued Servicing Guide Announcement (SVC-2024-02) (the “Announcement”), which announced, among other things, updates to Fannie Mae’s Loan Modification Agreement (Form 3179), with additional instructions in response to the New York Foreclosure Abuse Prevention Act (“FAPA”). Specifically, for all Loan Modification Agreements (Form 3179) sent to a borrower […]
CFPB and FTC Amicus Brief Signals Stance on “Pay-to-Pay” Fees under FDCPA
What Happened? On February 27, the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed an amicus brief in the 11th Circuit case Glover and Booze v. Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC arguing that certain convenience fees charged by mortgage servicer debt collectors are prohibited by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). […]
Ginnie Mae Imposes Cybersecurity Incident Notification Obligation
What Happened? On March 4, 2024, Ginnie Mae issued All Participant Memorandum (APM) 24-02 to impose a new cybersecurity incident notification requirement. Ginnie Mae has also amended its Mortgage-Backed Securities Guide to reflect this new requirement. Effective immediately, all Issuers, including subservicers, of Ginnie Mae Mortgage-Backed Securities (Issuers) are required to notify Ginnie Mae within […]
New York DFS to Impose Climate Change Safety and Soundness Expectations on Mortgage Lenders, Servicers, and other Regulated Organizations
What Happened? On December 21, 2023, the New York Department of Financial Services (“NYDFS”) published an 18-page guidance document (the “Guidance”) on managing material, financial and operational risks due to climate change. The NYDFS issued the Guidance after considering feedback it received on proposed guidance it issued in December 2022 on the same topic. The Guidance […]