The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) added its voice yesterday to a chorus of other regulators in calling for sustainable foreclosure relief when the Home Affordable Modification Program expires at year-end, National Mortgage News reported today. The CFPB released "guiding principles" for mortgage servicers and investors that were almost identical to those described in a white paper last week from the Treasury Department, the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Still, the bureau was careful in pointing out that its principles do not constitute a binding legal requirement for mortgage servicers or investors. Instead, the principles are intended to be part of the ongoing discussion about creating a universal loss mitigation program framework for the future. The CFPB is calling for mortgage lenders, housing finance agencies and investors to create affordable and sustainable loss mitigation programs that are accessible and transparent for borrowers.
