Regulatory Updates

The California Department of Insurance and a Delaware title company reached a settlement over allegations that the company was conducting title and escrow business in the state without a license. Read on for more details.

President Obama has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to clarify his power to fill government vacancies during a congressional recess when the Senate is in session. The request comes as concern regarding the validity of appointments Obama made last year. Read on for more details.

After providing testimony to the Senate Banking Committee on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s semi-annual report, Director Richard Cordray was informed that he would not be received by the House Financial Services Committee because of the continued controversy regarding Cordray’s appointment. Read on for the details.

A report by the Congressional Research Service indicated that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit’s decision in Noel Canning v. National Labor Relations Board could have a serious impact on the actions the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has taken since Richard Cordray’s recess appointment. Read on for the details.

In a recently released bulletin by the Colorado Division of Insurance, the division evaluated the use of title insurance rates insurers characterized as “centralized” or “streamlined.” Finding these rates to be unfair and discriminatory, the division ordered these rates not be used, effective immediately. Read on for more details.

Much has been said about lender angst regarding their liability for third party service providers. What are they most concerned about? Data and escrow security.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau went live with the nation’s largest public database of federal consumer financial complaints, opening up to consumers across the country information on more than 90,000 individual complaints on financial products and services. Read on for more details.

A Nebraska title company agreed to pay 24 closers back wages following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division. The company was found to have violated the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime and record-keeping provisions. Read on to find out how they violated the act.

One of the qualified mortgage requirements, the points and fees definition and threshold, have been troubling to proponents of affiliated business in the real estate and mortgage markets. While industry members have been hard at work trying to figure out what this new rule means for their business practices, others have introduced a bill to amend the statute and rule to end what they consider a discriminatory practice. That bill, H.R. 1077, the Consumer Mortgage Choice Act, was introduced last month.

In an attempt to ensure that the rates promulgated by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation are accurate and sufficient, the title industry, the OIR and the state’s Department of Financial Services have been working for a few years to find a way to gather the data necessary to establish accurate rates. With the release of a rule by OIR last month, that goal is close to becoming a reality.