SCRA – Consumer Financial Services Watch

CFPB Publishes New Mortgage Servicing Exam Procedures

Feb 18 2014

By: Nanci L. Weissgold, Kerri M. Smith, Christopher Shelton*

*Mr. Shelton is not admitted to the practice of law in the District of Columbia.

The CFPB has released updated exam procedures for reviewing mortgage servicers, incorporating the Mortgage Servicing Rules (“the Rules”) that became effective on January 10, 2014. These updated exam procedures still focus on nine major modules covering routine servicing, default servicing, and foreclosure. However, they frequently cross-reference the TILA and RESPA exam procedures that were updated in November 2013 to reflect the Rules. Because of the overlap in coverage and the reliance on cross-referencing, the updated servicing exam procedures are shorter than the prior version of the CFPB’s Examination Manual, although there are some notable additions. Read More

Servicemembers’ Civil Relief Act Protections Extended

Aug 27 2012

By: David I. Monteiro

On August 6, 2012, President Obama signed into law another extension to the protections from nonjudicial foreclosure afforded to members of the military under the federal Servicemembers’ Civil Relief Act (Honoring America’s Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act of 2012, or the “Act”). Prior to the Act, the SCRA prohibited nonjudicial foreclosures on mortgage loans to active-duty members of the military, both during military service and for nine months after termination of active service. The Act extends these protections from nine months to one year following the end of military service. This extension takes effect on February 2, 2013. Read More

Protecting the Protectors – the Global Settlement Agreements’ SCRA Provisions

Apr 03 2012

By: Jonathan D. Jaffe

Given the reported violations of the provisions of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (“SCRA”) by some servicers, and the attendant enforcement and civil actions against those servicers, state and federal regulators clearly felt compelled to impose significant SCRA-related requirements on the nation’s five largest residential mortgage loan servicers (the “Servicers”) in the recent global settlement agreements (the “Agreements”) entered into between those regulators and Servicers, described here. Read More

The CFPB’s Office of Servicemember Affairs Looks at the Lending Practices of For-Profit Colleges and Their Impact on Military Members

Dec 07 2011

By: Rebecca Lobenherz

When servicemembers are discussed in relation to the consumer credit industry, the discussion usually centers on the protections to military homeowners and credit card holders under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (“SCRA”). While SCRA remains a concern of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB” or “Bureau”), recently the Office of Servicemember Affairs has been taking aim at a more unlikely target: student loans. The CFPB is looking into the recruiting practices of for-profit colleges to determine if for-profit colleges are exploiting servicemembers in order to evade a federal financial aid rule.
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