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NAFCU's Carrie Hunt said Monday that a new Government Accountability Office report confirms concerns held by the association regarding how CFPB's mortgage servicing rule impact credit unions – especially regarding increased compliance costs.

The GAO report, released Monday, found that community banks and credit unions remain active in servicing mortgage loans under CFPB's new mortgage-servicing rules – though compliance costs have increased – and recommended that CFPB create a more complete plan for reviewing its rules.

Specifically, the GAO found that the share of mortgages serviced by community lenders, including credit unions, remains small compared to other lenders, but has doubled between 2008 and 2015. However, many lenders interviewed by the GAO for this report said CFPB's mortgage-related requirements resulted in increased costs for their institutions, such as the need to hire new staff and update systems.

"The GAO report confirms our concerns that CFPB's mortgage servicing rules are impacting credit unions," said Hunt, NAFCU's executive vice president of government affairs and general counsel. "Furthermore, the findings underscore the fact that increasing compliance costs have impacted customers' costs and choices.

"The report notes that several institutions no longer offered customers certain products because offering them would necessitate additional regulatory requirements," Hunt continued. "For this reason, we continue to urge CFPB to provide greater guidance and clarifications on these rules to insure that credit unions can continue to serve their members' mortgage needs."

GAO conducted this study to examine community lenders' participation in the mortgage servicing market and potential effects of CFPB's mortgage servicing rules on them, among other reasons.

While regulators and CFPB estimated the potential impacts of their news rules before issuing them, GAO, in this case, found the bureau's plans incomplete. "CFPB has not yet finalized a retrospective review plan or identified specific metrics, baselines, and analytical methods, as encouraged in Office of Management and Budget guidance," the report found.

GAO interviewed 16 community lenders of varying size and volume of mortgage servicing activities for this report, along with industry, consumer groups and federal officials. NAFCU met with GAO last year as it began its research.