XML 41 R28.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT v2.4.0.6
Note 21 REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2012
Regulatory Requirements [Text Block]

Note 21       REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS


Our business is subject to extensive regulation by federal, state and local governmental authorities, including the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the SEC and various state agencies that license, audit and conduct examinations of our mortgage servicing and collection activities in a number of states. From time to time, we also receive requests from federal, state and local agencies for records, documents and information relating to our policies, procedures and practices regarding our loan servicing and debt collection business activities. We incur significant ongoing costs to comply with new and existing laws and governmental regulation of our business.


We must comply with a number of federal, state and local consumer protection laws including, among others, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), the Truth in Lending Act (TILA), the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, Homeowners Protection Act, the Federal Trade Commission Act and, more recently, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act), and state foreclosure laws. These statutes apply to debt collection, use of credit reports, safeguarding of non−public personally identifiable information about our customers, foreclosure and claims handling, investment of and interest payments on escrow balances and escrow payment features, and mandate certain disclosures and notices to borrowers. These requirements can and do change as statutes and regulations are enacted, promulgated or amended.


In April 2012, the CFPB announced that it is considering new rules under the Dodd-Frank Act that would require mortgage servicers to (i) warn borrowers before any interest rate adjustments on their mortgages and provide alternatives for borrowers to consider, (ii) provide monthly mortgage statements that explicitly breakdown principal, interest, fees, escrow, and due dates, (iii) provide options for avoiding lender-placed, or “forced-placed”, insurance, (iv) provide early outreach to borrowers in danger of default regarding options to avoid foreclosure, (v) provide that payments be credited to borrower accounts the day they are received, (vi) require borrower account records be kept current, (vii) provide increased accessibility to servicing staff and records for borrowers, and (viii) investigate errors within 30 days and improve staff accessibility to consumers, among other things. The CFPB stated that it will seek public comment before formally promulgating the rules, which are expected to be finalized by early next year.


There are a number of foreign laws and regulations that are applicable to our operations in India and Uruguay, including acts that govern licensing, employment, safety, taxes, insurance, and the laws and regulations that govern the creation, continuation and the winding up of companies as well as the relationships between the shareholders, the company, the public and the government in both countries.