Photo by Olga DeLawrence on Unsplash
The interim head of the CFPB, Mick Mulvaney, was reviewing the settlement that called for Wells Fargo to pay out millions in fines for the issues surrounding the fake accounts that were created, as well as refund borrowers approx. $98 million in erroneous rate lock extension fees. It appeared that Mulvaney was going to wipe the slate clean and then Trump did what Trump tends to do… and tweeted about his stance on the matter:
“Fines and penalties against Wells Fargo Bank for their bad acts against their customers and others will not be dropped, as has incorrectly been reported, but will be pursued and, if anything, substantially increased. I will cut Regs but make penalties severe when caught cheating!”
It was my understanding that the whole reason Mulvaney was appointed to this position was to stop the aggressive behavior by the CFPB… however it appears that despite how unjust the CFPB can be… deceiving borrowers out of millions will ultimately come at a cost.
In other deceptive news, IBERIABANK is the next bank to feel the wrath of the False Claims Act. On Friday, IBERIABANK Corporation agreed to pay $11.7mm in fines for violating the act that has claimed mortgage lenders United Shore Financial (UWM), Freedom Mortgage, PHH Corp, Franklin American… just to name a few. HousingWire has a more extensive list here. Like the aforementioned companies IBERIABANK falsely certified loans as eligible for FHA mortgage insurance and paid their underwriters an incentive to push these loans through to approval.