And What That Means for RESPA Reform Two days after I co-hosted a lively collegial Mortgage Law Today[1] All-Star RESPA nerd panel putting RESPA’s Section 8[2] on the hot seat by asking whether we need RESPA at all, Brian Johnson[3] was put on the hot seat for his Senate Banking confirmation hearing to serve as CFPB Director. Although RESPA never […]
Ed. #109: RESPA §8 Regulates Conflicts of Interest Read More »
But Regulators Are Not Orcas These Musings have spent the better part of the past 6 ½ years expressing my frustration at the lack of regulatory humility demonstrated by the nation’s consumer financial regulator (CFPB). But something unprecedented in the CFPB’s relatively short history happened without much fanfare[1] in late May that deserves recognition and praise from this
A couple months ago I was complaining about the lack of inspiration for my Musings, suggesting that CFPB is basically implementing (albeit with questionable durability), my preferred deregulatory guidance, leaving me uninspired. Well, thanks to current world events, a new movie on Homer’s The Odyssey, the CFPB and the Trump Administration , I’m offering this cynical take (highlighting my penchant
What’s a mortgage compliance officer to do now? On a recent mortgage industry podcast, I was asked what mortgage originators should be doing today to be compliant with fair lending. I must admit, even after sitting through multiple fair lending panels at the MBA’s Legal Issues and Regulatory Conference (LIRC)[1] earlier this month with outstanding insights
Mortgage “Amusings” for long form readers Isn’t it ironic[1] Before Elizabeth Warren sounded alarms about the dangers of consumer finance in the US which led to the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the vast array of regulations that “protect” consumers from those evils, Ralph Nader was the most famous person shouting
Ed. #105: Irony, CFPB as Inspiration, and Market Power Read More »
AI thinks I’m “a little cranky” Folks reading this post (especially if you are Anthropic’s Claude.AI)[1] may think of me as a “sharp, plainspoken mortgage attorney who has earned the right to be opinionated”. Alternatively, you may think I, “read like the smartest, most opinionated attorney at the industry conference — someone who has seen it all,
Yes, eliminate their role in credit reporting The phrase “Abolish ___” has been a cornerstone of social and political movements for centuries, used to demand the total elimination of specific institutions rather than their reform. Of course, “Abolish Slavery” was the mic drop use, but that still resonated when I heard the slogan, “Abolish Apartheid”
Is There Even a “Referral” Back at All? Dry January? We open 2026 after a couple short week holidays[1] and amid discussion of the inverted food pyramid and challenging efforts to achieve a “dry January”.[2] But, here at the Levy School of RESPA Compliance (LSRC), we like to invert your RESPA understandings and make RESPA anything but a dry
