For many of us who have been around for a while, it seems as if we have seen this movie before.  An economic downturn leads to increased borrower delinquencies on mortgage loans with a progressively increasing obligation for the servicers of those mortgage loans to make principal and interest advances to cover the delinquencies.

But

Federal regulators and Congress continue to release new guidance and requirements to assist residential mortgage loan borrowers facing economic hardships due to the pandemic. But in light of the anticipated volume of requests and associated burden on servicers, they also are offering some regulatory relief. This alert contains a summary of relevant mortgage servicing requirements,

COVID-19 has strained all aspects of life in the United States, including the housing and mortgage industries.  Social distancing, stay-at-home orders, and business closures have disrupted the abilities of many workers to complete their duties on a “business as usual” basis.  In the mortgage market, there is a direct impact on a mortgage lender’s ability

Two days after its original announcement, the NMLS Policy Committee has amended its previously announced 60-day temporary deadline extension for certain types of reporting submitted in NMLS. According to the current posting on the NMLS website, it appears that because the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council announced there would be a 30-day extension for certain reports, the NMLS Policy Committee reduced its extension for filing financial statements and certain other reports from 60 days to 30 days. The revised reporting due date table has also been amended to reflect the new 30-day temporary deadline extension. We do not know the consideration(s) that went into this new decision.

Plus, the NMLS Policy Committee is now encouraging
Continue Reading NMLS Amends Extension to State Reporting Due Dates, as Coronavirus Still Plagues the Land

On Friday, March 27, 2020, the President signed into law a stimulus bill designed to provide emergency assistance for those affected by the COVID-19 national emergency (the “CARES Act” or “Act”) that includes certain temporary relief for federal student loan borrowers. The Act largely codifies the Department of Education’s previous announcement regarding temporary relief to federal student loan borrowers impacted by the COVID-19 national emergency and extends the timeline for the temporary relief measures.

The Act provides three primary relief measures to federal student loan borrowers whose loans are held by the Department of Education:Continue Reading School’s Out: Proposed Relief for Federal Student Loan Borrowers Impacted by COVID-19

On Monday, March 30, 2020, from 4:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. EDT, Mayer Brown partners Holly Spencer Bunting and Krista Cooley will discuss actions taken in response to the COVID-19 pandemic by the Federal Housing Administration, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  This call is a part of Mayer Brown’s Global

The next test for mortgage finance companies licensed through the NMLS is the requirement of a number of states to provide financial statements through the NMLS within 90 days of the licensee’s fiscal year end.  We brought this issue to the attention of the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (“CSBS”) two weeks ago, and this was considered by the NMLS Policy Committee last week. No decision was made at that time, but the Policy Committee agreed to consider the matter further this week. As we understand, after the meeting of the Policy Committee on Tuesday, it was decided that while financial statements are still due, there will be a 60 day grace period to provide the financial statements, and certain other required filings of state licensed entities. Specifically, the NMLS Policy Committee issued the following yesterday:

“In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on state regulated entities, the NMLS Policy Committee has implemented a 60-Day deadline extension for the following types of reporting submitted in NMLS:

  • Money Services Business Call Report
  • Mortgage Call Report
  • Financial Statement

Continue Reading Coronavirus Still Plagues the Land, but State Regulators Step Up and Provide Some Temporary Relief from Certain State Filings

On Thursday, March 26, 2020, from 3:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. EDT, Larry Platt will discuss the provisions of recent federal legislation that impact residential mortgage loans.  This call is a part of Mayer Brown’s Global Financial Markets Teleconference Series.

Congress’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic is expansive legislation that provides support to federal agencies,

Federal housing finance authorities issued temporary relief measures for the benefit of mortgage loan borrowers affected by the COVID-19 outbreak and its economic consequences. The Federal Housing Administration and the Federal Housing Finance Agency (in its role overseeing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) have announced measures that require servicers to offer relief to borrowers who

Last week, in a blog entitled “Coronavirus Hits Home,” we informed you that we had contacted the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (“CSBS”) and regulators in a number of states to see what CSBS or the state regulators were telling mortgage lender or broker licensees as to whether their licensed MLO employees who had been quarantined in their homes because of the coronavirus (“COVID-19”) could continue to originate mortgage loans from their homes without the home being licensed as a branch office. Since that blog, CSBS has posted certain state-by-state COVID-19 guidance on the NMLS Resource Center, which among other things covers relevant business continuity plans for licensed mortgage loan officers. We urge you to check the NMLS Resource Center and the State Agency websites for the guidance provided.

Since we sent our request to state regulators as to relief from branch licensing for licensed MLOs who are quarantined in their homes, but want to continue to originate mortgage loans, a number of state regulators have responded directly and positively to our email request. As some of the guidance posted on the NMLS website may not cover the branch licensing issue we posed to CSBS and certain other state regulators, we thought it would be helpful to post some of the specific guidance we have received from state regulators that addressed the branch licensing concern raised by our clients.
Continue Reading Coronavirus Hits Hard – Branch Licensing May Be Waived