The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau “CFPB” and the United States Department of Justice “DOJ” formally entered into an Memorandum of Understanding Agreement “MOU” pursuant to Section 1054(d)(2)(B) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act which mandated the two agencies to establish an agreement between themselves to help…
On April 13, 2012 the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued Bulletin 2012-03 titled “Service Providers”. The CFPB stated that it expects supervised banks and nonbanks to oversee their business relationships with their service providers in a manner that ensures compliance with Federal consumer financial law, which is designed to…
H.R. 2446 known as the “RESPA Home Warranty Clarification Act of 2011” passed The Insurance, Housing, and Community Opportunity Subcommittee last week. US Congresswoman Judy Biggert sponsored the bill and is the Chairman of the subcommittee. The RESPA Home Warranty Clarification Act as currently written by Rep. Biggert seeks to…
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau “CFPB” announced plans today to implement an early warning enforcement action plan (“the Early Warning Notice“) which would allow those under investigation the ability to respond to the CFPB. The CFPB Bulletin 2011-04 (Enforcement) announced the first in a series of periodic bulletins the CFPB…
Prospect Mortgage reached a settlement today with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) over Prospect’s use of the Series Limited Liability Company “aka Series LLC” joint venture business model. The terms of the settlement are not yet available but we will update the Respa Lawyer Blog as…
The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development “HUD” announced a settlement with Fidelity National Financial (NYSE: FNF) in the amount of $4.5 million dollars for HUD’s contention that Fidelity violated the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act “RESPA” when it paid real estate brokers and other settlement service providers…
The United States Supreme Court granted First American Financial Corporation’s Writ of Certiorari it filed in the Denise P. Edwards et al. v. First American Financial Corporation, et al. RESPA class action lawsuit today (June 20, 2011). The Supreme Court will now decide whether a plaintiff has standing to sue,…
The United States Department of Treasury has hired Richard Cordray to lead the Enforcement Division of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) which was created under the Dodd-Frank Bill. Richard Cordray was elected as the Ohio Attorney General in 2008. Cordray has filed numerous lawsuits during his tenure as the…
On November 23, 2010, the Office of General Counsel’s Helen Kanovsky with the Department of Housing and Urban Development “HUD” responded to public comments HUD received on the “Home Warranty Companies’ Payments to Real Estate Brokers and Agents” Interpretive Rule it published on June 25, 2010. HUD’s response was very…
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau which will oversee the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) now has a decision maker to help set up the CFPB. President Obama announced today the appointment of Harvard Professor Elizabeth Warren to implement policies and procedures to protect consumers from financial products. Ms. Warren…