Here come the regulators

The regulatory landscape has changed significantly this year and that means those in title and settlement should be paying very careful attention to compliance right now.

Good afternoon! Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Sign up here. Good afternoon —   The regulatory landscape has changed significantly this year and that means those in title and settlement should be paying very careful attention to compliance right now. The installation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's new director, Rohit Chopra, has revived the dreaded regulation by enforcement strategy that the bureau was known for under former director Richard Cordray. Instead of a lot of new legislation, companies in real estate, mortgage, and title and settlement can expect guidance to come in the form of enforcement actions. While Cordray was in charge, the CFPB charged companies more than $11 billion, including more than $9 billion in a two-year period. That compares to the actions of CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger (a Trump appointee), when the CFPB carried out a similar number of enforcement actions, but only charged $1.5 billion in penalties.   In 2017, the CFPB (under Cordray) took action against settlement services provider Meridian Title Corp., slapping the company with a fine of up to $1.25 million for RESPA violations. The CFPB said Meridian steered consumers to Arsenal Insurance without fully disclosing its relationship with the title insurer.   Considering the number of "relationships" between companies of every stripe — lenders, real estate brokerages and fintechs — and title and settlement, this type of violation is a real risk.

And as Senior Mortgage Reporter Georgia Kromrei wrote last week, the CFPB is adding 20 to 30 enforcement attorneys to its supervision, enforcement and fair lending division, so it's staffing up.

 

Until next week —

 

Sarah Wheeler

HousingWire Editor in Chief 

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