DS News

64 October 27-29 th HYATT REGENCY LONG BEACH 200 South Pine Avenue, Long Beach, CA 90802, USA Our specialized hybrid of Women in Housing and Women in Government Awareness, Opportunities, and Access ConferenCe 2014 Inaugural First date with a personal Financial Fitness Mentor Accelerating Women in the Housing Economy E a r l y B i r d R e g i st r at i o n E nd s S e pt e m be r 1 5 t h First date with a personal Financial Fitness Mentor Accelerating Women in the Housing Economy NAWRBevents.com 949.559.9800 CFPB PROPOSES CHANGES TO REPORTING REQUIREMENTS e Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is proposing a rule designed to improve access to credit. e proposed rule would update the reporting requirements contained within the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) and simplify the reporting process for financial institutions. e HDMA requires lenders to report information on home loans that they originate or purchase. Regulators use the information to determine whether the lenders are meeting the needs of the community and to possibly identify discriminatory lending practices. "It is critical that we shed more light on the mortgage market–the largest consumer financial market in the world," said CFPB Director Rich- ard Cordray. "e Home Mortgage Disclosure Act helps financial regulators and public officials keep a watchful eye on emerging trends and problem areas in the mortgage market. Today's proposal would help us understand better how to protect consumers' access to mortgage credit while simplifying the reporting requirements for financial institutions." e CFPB was charged with revisiting the HDMA as part of the passage of the Dodd- Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act in 2010. Specifically, the bureau was directed to expand the reporting criteria to include data points that contributed to the financial crisis. ere are two main areas of focus: First, the bureau is proposing that lenders be required to report information that could identify discriminatory lending patterns on the part of the financial institution. e new information would include, at the very least, the property value, the term of the loan, and the borrower's age and credit score. e second area that the bureau wants more information on is access to credit in the market. ey want data that would allow them to better understand how the ability-to-pay require- ments is affecting the marketplace. It would be accomplished by providing more information on underwriting and pricing such as debt-to-income ratio, the interest rate of the loan, and the total discount points charged for the loan. e proposal also calls for the simplification of the reporting process for financial institutions. It purports to standardize the reporting threshold for most lenders, relax the reporting require- ments for some smaller lenders, and improve the electronic reporting process. e proposed rule will be open for public comment through October 22, 2014. CONSUMER CONFIDENCE HITS POST-RECESSION HIGH Consumer confidence in the United States jumped up more than four points from June to July, signaling a brighter economic outlook among Americans. e Conference Board's Consumer Con- fidence Index reached 90.9 in the group's July survey, up from 86.4 in June. As of July, the index stands at its highest level since before the Great Recession. Lynn Franco, director of economic indica- tors at the Conference Board, said the surge was fueled by strong job growth and a brighter short- term outlook for the labor market and personal incomes. "Recent improvements in consumer confi- dence, in particular expectations, suggest the re- cent strengthening in growth is likely to continue into the second half of the year," Franco added. e index component measuring consumers' feelings about their present situation increased two points to 88.3, the Conference Board report- ed, while the index gauging future expectations jumped more than six points to 92.7. Looking at recent economic developments, 15.9 percent of consumers surveyed said jobs are plentiful at the moment, though nearly double that percentage maintained that work is still hard to find. Looking ahead, however, Americans were more positive, with a greater share expecting more jobs in the months to come and a smaller number expecting labor to fall—an improvement Federal Reserve leaders might take note of as they sit down this week to decide their next move in monetary policy, says Paul Ashworth, chief U.S. economist for Capital Economics. "e net difference between those two bal- ances shrank to -14.8 in July, from -16.1. at decline strongly suggests that the amount of slack in the labor market really is diminishing quite rapidly, which many Fed officials still aren't will- ing to admit," Ashworth said in a note to clients.

• Cover