The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau today issued a bulletin outlining the obligations of servicers in handling private mortgage insurance under the Homeowners Protection Act. The bureau said it had observed instances in which servicers had improperly collected PMI premiums after the policies should have been terminated, delayed timely requests to cancel PMI and placed excess premiums in escrow accounts instead of refunding them.
The CFPB’s bulletin outlines when borrowers may request that PMI be canceled, when servicers are required to cancel PMI automatically, refunds of excess premiums, annual disclosures and guidelines for investor-owned mortgages.