I. Introduction

On July 21, 2010, the President signed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”), enacting numerous provisions intended to reform the mortgage lending industry with an eye towards consumer protection. Many of these provisions are contained within Title XIV of the Dodd-Frank Act, the Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act (the “Mortgage Act” or the “Act”). In part, the economic and financial crisis stemmed from the subprime mortgage crisis, which was mostly caused by movement of creditors and mortgage originators away from traditional underwriting practices during the real estate boom, giving rise to risky mortgages and practices, such as allowing loans with “negative amortization” features, and to the proliferation of subprime mortgages. In an effort to prevent a recurrence of such misleading practices, Congress passed comprehensive mortgage reform legislation beginning in 2007 including the Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act of 2008 (12 U.S.C. 5101 et seq., “SAFE Act”). The Mortgage Act continues these legislative efforts by amending provisions of the Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1601 et seq., “TILA”) in order to reform consumer mortgage practices and provide accountability for such practices.

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