DSNews delivers stories, ideas, links, companies, people, events, and videos impacting the mortgage default servicing industry.
Issue link: http://digital.dsnews.com/i/1518663
MortgagePoint » Your Trusted Source for Mortgage Banking and Servicing News 70 April 2024 J O U R N A L each other. I am pleased by our progress in quickly bringing our systems back online and restoring normal business operations." The loanDepot incident was just the first in a string of cybersecurity and ran- somware attacks to plague the mortgage finance industry. In December, title insurance and set- tlement services provider First American Financial Corporation reported that the operations of several of its subsidiaries were disrupted by a cyberattack. First American went as far as taking email systems offline and warned customers to be aware of potentially malicious emails purporting to come from the company. In November, Fidelity National Financial (FNF) had its systems knocked offline for nearly a week due to a ransomware attack that included a data breach. The ransomware operators stole data from the compromised systems to use as leverage against the victim. In a Form 8-K, FNF said it notified applicable state attorneys general and regulators, and approximately 1.3 million potentially impacted consumers by the attack. And last October, Mr. Cooper Group experienced a cyber incident in which an unauthorized third party gained access to the company's systems. Upon detection, the company initiated response proto- cols, launched an investigation with the assistance of cybersecurity experts to determine the nature and scope of the incident, and contacted law enforcement. Mr. Cooper also decided to shut down systems to contain the incident and to protect customer information. Mr. Cooper identified that files containing personal information were obtained by an unauthorized party. "We take our role as a mortgage com- pany very seriously, and there is nothing more important to us than maintaining our customers' trust," said Jay Bray, Chairman and CEO, Mr. Cooper Group of the incident. "I want you to know how sorry I am for any concern or frustration this may have caused. Making the home- ownership journey as smooth as possible is our top priority, and we intend to make this right for our customers." HOUSE MARKS UP HOMEOWNER PROTECTION BILLS T he House Financial Services Committee announced several housing-related measures passed during the Committee's full markup meeting. The bills include: » The "Wildfire Insurance Coverage Act," led by House Financial Services Committee Ranking Member Rep. Maxine Waters, would require the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct a study assessing the danger that wildfires increasingly pose to communities and how the market for homeowners' insurance is responding to this growing threat. » The "HUD Accountability Act" led by Mike Lawler would amend the Department of Housing and Urban Development Act to require the Secre- tary of HUD to testify before Congress on an annual basis. The bill would require HUD to amend policies and procedures applicable to HUD mul- tifamily housing programs, including Section 8 project-based rental assis- tance (PBRA). The HUD Accountabili- ty Act would also require management and occupancy reviews conducted by the Office of Multifamily Housing Programs to include specified graded factors, including responsiveness to local code violations; and remediation of health, sanitation, and structural integrity issues. » The "HUD Transparency Act," led by Rep. Monica De La Cruz, would require HUD's Inspector General to testify before Congress on an annual basis. Introduced by Rep. Waters, HR 7462, the Wildfire Insurance Coverage Study Act of 2023 would require the GAO to conduct a study regarding insurance coverage for damages from wildfires, and for other purposes. Combating Rising Housing Costs Rep. Lawler's HUD Accountability Act was unanimously reported out of the House Financial Services Committee by a vote of 50 to 0. "With families in New York and across our nation feeling the squeeze from skyrocketing housing costs amid a crippling affordability crisis, we have got to take this housing crisis seriously," Rep. Lawler said. "That's why last week the Fi- nancial Services Committee held a field hearing in my district—the first congres- sional field hearing in Rockland County in years. It's also why I've introduced multiple bills to help reduce the cost of housing for families and heroes and to fix the workforce housing crunch. The American people and Congress need to hear from their Housing Secretary on these issues and that her department is taking them seriously. Unfortunately, before her most recent hearing with us, it had been 906 days since she last spoke to us. That's unacceptable. My legislation requiring annual testimony by the Secre- tary is common sense and that's reflected by the unanimous support it received in the Financial Services Committee yesterday." Commitment to Homebuyers Nationwide Rep. De La Cruz introduced the bipartisan HUD Transparency Act to require accountability at HUD. The bill would require the HUD Inspector Gen- eral to testify annually before Congress. Prior to June, the last time an official from the HUD Inspector General's office testified before the House of Representa- tives was in 2018. "Given the magnitude of federal dol- lars sent to HUD, the housing affordabil- ity discussion cannot be had effectively without HUD's commitment to being good stewards of our tax dollars," Rep. De La Cruz said. "To ensure that people in our communities who most need HUD assistance can get that assistance, it is imperative that we work to root out waste, fraud, and abuse where found. Oversight is the job of Congress, and this bill asserts that oversight."