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(Bloomberg) -- Nouriel Roubini is preparing for a world in which yields on long-dated US bonds will edge higher as Donald Trump's policy agenda — including his support for looser monetary policy and higher tariffs — risks eroding price stability.The economist, who runs Roubini Macro Associates, is positioning for a curve steepener, a popular Treasuries trade where the gap between long- and short-dated yields widens. Dubbed the "Trump trade" by some, the strategy stands to benefit from interest-rate cuts."All the inflationary shocks that had spread before implied that the long bond yields are going to be higher, both in nominal terms and in real terms," Roubini said on Bloomberg's ETF IQ Wednesday. "Therefore, you need an alternative — an alternative that combines things that do well when inflation is higher."Roubini, who built his reputation by correctly warning of a disaster ahead of the 2008 financial crisis, expects traditional haven trades, like the popular 60/40 portfolio and long-duration US Treasuries, will underperform in an inflationary environment, one that he predicts will worsen if Trump's tariff and immigration plans come to fruition."In a world in which gradually inflation goes higher, you lose on the equity part of your portfolio and you lose also on the bond portion of your portfolio," he said.Roubini's newly minted Atlas America Fund (ticker USAF) counts shorter-term Treasury ETFs as its biggest constituents. Other holdings include exchange-traded funds tracking gold trusts, climate-change resilient real estate investment trusts, municipal securities and corporate bonds.USAF is Roubini's first ETF launched through Atlas Capital Team, a fintech company that he co-founded to help develop investing strategies that protect against high-risk scenarios including out-of-control inflation, climate change and civil unrest."In a world in which average inflation might be 5% rather than 2%, bond yields may be closer to 7% to 8% rather than the current 4%-plus," Roubini said. That subjects Treasuries, traditionally safe assets, "to massive price risks."Roubini, who famously called Bitcoin "the mother of all bubbles," is still steering clear from the world's largest cryptocurrency, which advocates tout as an alternative store of value in a world of elevated inflation risk."Bitcoin is highly volatile," he said. "If you want wealth preservation rather than high volatility, you want to stay away from those types of assets."--With assistance from Scarlet Fu and Eric Balchunas.More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

Elon Musk.Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg WASHINGTON — Elon Musk said the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau should be eliminated, calling the bureau an example of "too many duplicative regulatory agencies." The call comes after Marc Andreeson, the Silicon Valley venture capitalist, said on a Joe Rogan podcast that the bureau was "terrorizing financial institutions." Andreeson has a long history with the bureau. The CFPB said earlier this year that it had returned nearly $40 million to consumers from a fintech company called LendUp Loans, which was backed by Andreeson's firm Andreeson Horowitz. The CFPB in 2021 closed LendUp Loans, which billed itself as an alternative to traditional payday lenders, for "repeatedly lying and illegally cheating its customers." Musk might have the power to influence the Trump administration's views toward the bureau as co-head of a new entity called the "Department of Government Efficiency," which will operate outside of the government. The ability of Musk — and of the Trump administration writ large — to shutter the CFPB, however, is limited. It would likely take an act of Congress to unwind the bureau. "However fortunate or unfortunate, the CFPB was established by an act of Congress — requiring an act of Congress to 'delete,'" said Aaron J.B. Kofsky, Vice President-elect JD Vance's former financial policy advisor. "And I just don't think the votes are there. While I take issue with much of the CFPB's work, conservatives should instead focus on weaponizing the bureau to charter an America First course." Another layer of protection for the CFPB is the recent Supreme Court decision — decided by a bench that leans conservative — that finds the bureau's funding structure constitutional. "The logic of deleting the CFPB, like half of the accounts on X, is nothing more than an imaginative ruse designed to fan flames inside an echo chamber," said Adam Rust, director of financial services at the Consumer Federation of America. "The CFPB is an independent agency with independent funding." Central to Andreeson's claims, which Musk was responding to in his social media post, are complaints about "debanking," which for Musk and his counterparts are typically concerns about banks' kicking conservative voices and industries like the crypto industry and the firearms industry out of traditional banking services.Musk spent much of Wednesday posting about debanking and "Operation Chokepoint." "Did you know that 30 tech founders were secretly debanked?" Musk wrote, reposting a video of Andreeson's interview. It'll be a key point in banking policy to watch in the new Trump administration, experts said, regardless of whether it winds up affecting the CFPB or other banking agencies. "While debanking — primarily of conservative voices and industries disfavored by the Left — is a serious issue, the CFPB is not the culprit," Kofsky said. "Bank examiners at the FDIC, Fed and OCC utilize reputational risk to pressure banks to stop doing business with not only conservatives, but also the gun, traditional energy and crypto industries." The CFPB was created as part of the Dodd-Frank Act, and the bureau in particular comes from the work of now Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who will be the ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee when the new Congress begins in the new year. Conservatives and Republicans since have opposed the bureau, with Trump appointing Mick Mulvaney to lead it during his first term, with the purpose of dismantling its work and undercutting its powers. Project 2025 — the conservative blueprint from the Heritage Foundation that Trump has distanced himself from while embracing some of its ideas — calls for "returning the consumer protection function of the CFPB to banking regulators and the Federal Trade Commission."  What the election means for the future of the CFPB It would be an onerous path to accomplish this, said Todd Phillips, assistant professor studying financial regulation law at Georgia State. "The CFPB is a creature of Congress, and Congress can pass legislation to abolish it if it wants to," he said. "That's not going to happen. As much as the industry dislikes how vigorous Director [Rohit] Chopra has been, they don't want to see the agency abolished." Congress would have to write legislation to move the CFPB's authorities back to the FTC and to the bank regulators, a complex process that would make for a more confusing landscape for bankers and tech firms alike. "I expect that as soon as Donald Trump gets into office he's going to appoint his person to run the agency and Congress isn't going to do a whole lot with it," Phillips said. "Even conservatives don't like getting ripped off."

Elon MuskNathan Laine/Bloomberg Billionaire Elon Musk called for eliminating the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, highlighting the renewed threat under President-elect Donald Trump to a regulatory agency that has long been a target of Republicans and business advocacy groups."Delete CFPB. There are too many duplicative regulatory agencies," Musk wrote in a post on his social-media platform X early Wednesday. Musk's criticism is notable because he, alongside technology entrepreneur and fellow businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, has been tapped by Trump to run a new effort, dubbed the Department of Government Efficiency, which aims to slash the federal bureaucracy and reduce government spending.And Musk's move signals a new stage in a long-running Washington fight over the agency's powers and very existence.The CFPB — the brainchild of Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren — was created as part of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act in the wake of the financial crisis and given the job of overseeing parts of the financial industry that interact with consumers. The agency, though, has endured a rocky political tenure, facing multiple legal challenges since its onset.During his first term, Trump took steps to largely neutralize the agency, easing the CFPB's enforcement of banks. But under President Joe Biden and Director Rohit Chopra, the agency has taken an aggressive regulatory approach to consumer finance, cracking down on home foreclosures and bank overdraft fees. Earlier this year, the agency also scored a win in the courts when the Supreme Court upheld its funding system.Project 2025, a controversial blueprint for a second Trump term crafted by the conservative Heritage Foundation, calls for abolishing the agency, calling it "highly politicized, damaging, and utterly unaccountable," and "returning the consumer protection function of the CFPB to banking regulators and the Federal Trade Commission."Chopra's own future as head of the CFPB is in jeopardy. Since a 2020 Supreme Court ruling making the role at-will, the incoming president will have the power to fire Chopra if he doesn't resign first. Removing him would be a victory for businesses that have sought to weaken independent federal regulators.Musk has already demonstrated his influence over the incoming administration, including sitting in on transition meetings and calls with foreign leaders. But it is unclear how much power his Department of Government Efficiency will wield in its efforts to scale back the federal government. Trump has said it will "provide advice and guidance from outside of Government, and will partner with the White House and Office of Management & Budget to drive large scale structural reform."'Midnight-hour' regsRamaswamy is warning the Biden administration over last-minute efforts to finalize regulations or dole out funding before Trump returns to power, saying those actions will be scrutinized by incoming officials and potentially reversed."We are acutely aware of the reality that the outgoing Biden administration is pushing out $$ and proposing new regulations at a fast pace to get ahead of Jan 20," Ramaswamy said in a post on X Wednesday. "All midnight-hour expenditures & new regulations will get special scrutiny and should be rescinded where appropriate."Administrations, including Trump's first, routinely seek to cement their imprint on policies in the final days of a term. One high-profile example in recent days is a proposed Biden administration rule that would require the US government to cover obesity drugs for millions of Americans. Biden is also seeking to strengthen Ukraine in its fight to repel Russia's invasion during his final days in office. He's allowing Kyiv to hit military targets deeper inside Russia, approved sending anti-personnel land mines and forgave nearly $5 billion in debt.On Capitol Hill, Senate Democrats are also sprinting to confirm the president's judicial nominees before the chamber flips to Republican control in January.

Government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will heighten their focus on rural community development, including expanding construction and secondary market access, in the latest Duty to Serve plans addressing housing equity. In updated plans published this week by their regulator, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac detailed upcoming actions they would take to serve the full rural housing market, in addition to designated communities deemed at highest need by the U.S. government. "It is critical that innovative ideas for addressing liquidity needs in underserved markets be implemented and scaled up in rural communities and other areas facing access and affordability challenges," said Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Sandra Thompson in a press release. As part of the strategy, Freddie Mac will host six Develop the Developer academies in rural areas to help community stakeholders increase supply. Meanwhile, Fannie Mae expects to devise plans to open the door for rural-based community development financial institutions, or CDFIs, gain access to more of the secondary market. "These new plans underscore the commitment of FHFA and the enterprises to ensure that the housing finance system responsibly supports borrowers and renters across the country," Thompson said.As required under federal regulations established in 2008, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac regularly publish goals in what is referred to as Duty to Serve Underserved Markets Plans, which spells out ways to increase liquidity and housing access for low- and moderate-income residents in communities across the country. In addition to rural housing development, the GSEs 2025-2027 plans include expanded liquidity for manufactured homes and preservation of existing affordable units. Both enterprises issued updates to existing programs in the announcement this week for residents in manufactured home communities, placing limits on rent increases.The newest updates to Duty to Serve are set to open up funding opportunities that will benefit nearly 690,000 renter households and over 90,000 homeowners, FHFA said. The Duty to Serve announcement follows the publication of similarly mandated three-year Equitable Housing Plans by FHFA earlier this year. In those updates, the enterprises emphasized their support for initiatives enabling first-generation homeownership. Among programs introduced by the GSEs aimed at first-time buyers are expanded use of rental-payment history and cash-flow analysis in underwriting, as well as promotion of down payment assistance. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will also increase financial and homeownership education with translations of material into new languages and the addition of topics addressing home maintenance and natural disaster risk.The developments come in a year when U.S. housing agencies upped their efforts to support housing in rural and other underserved markets. Among segments receiving greater attention is the manufactured home industry. Earlier this year, FHFA introduced a new manufactured housing price index to be issued quarterly. At the same time, leaders at the U.S. Housing and Urban Development also rolled out new programs at various times in 2024 intended to boost growth of manufactured homes. 

For the second time in three weeks, mortgage rates moved lower, but given rates are in the same range for the past month shows investors are uncertain about the U.S. economy under President-elect Trump, Freddie Mac said.The 30-year fixed rate mortgage was at 6.81% as of Nov. 27, down from 6.84% one-week prior, the Primary Mortgage Market Survey reported. This week's results include an adjustment for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday.For the same week in 2023, the 30-year FRM was 7.22%. "Rates have been relatively flat over the last few weeks as the market waits for more clarity on specific economic policies," Sam Khater, Freddie Mac's chief economist, said in a press release.The 30-year FRM is only two basis points higher than where it was for the first week of November, the Freddie Mac data shows."Potential homebuyers are also waiting on the sidelines, causing demand to be lackluster," Khater said. "Despite the low sales activity, inventory has only modestly improved and remains dramatically undersupplied."Khater's comment came even as the pending home sales report released Wednesday morning found they had increased due to the brief rate dip in September, which enticed buyers into the market in October.Meanwhile, the 15-year FRM as tracked by Freddie Mac increased 8 basis points week-to-week to 6.1% from 6.02%. For the same time last year, it was at 6.56%.Zillow's rate tracker showed a significant decline from one week ago, with the 30-year FRM down to 6.45% as of 11 a.m. on Nov. 27. That was 17 basis points from the previous week's average of 6.62%.The 10-year Treasury yield at that same time was at 4.25%, down from 4.3% at the close on Nov. 26 and from 4.43% at the end of trading last Thursday.This decline in the 10-year followed the Personal Consumption Expenditures index release on Wednesday morning. The Federal Reserve's preferred measure of inflation increased 0.2% in November versus October.On a year-over-year basis, the increase was 2.3%, compared with 2.1% in October.Separately, the Freddie Mac economics team headed by Khater updated its outlook on Nov. 26, although it noted it was not adjusted to reflect the results of the presidential election.Freddie Mac expects a moderation in economic growth next year, with a cooling of the labor market and less consumer spending. That would keep the Federal Open Market Committee on its course of rate cuts in upcoming meetings.However, First American Financial Chief Economist Mark Fleming pointed to recent comments by Federal Reserve Chairman Jay Powell that the central bank is not in a rush to lower rates.That has left investors split on whether the FOMC will cut rates by 25 basis points at its December meeting, "and calling into question the pace and extent of rate cuts in 2025," Fleming said in his commentary accompanying the First American Data & Analytics Real House Price Index. "More importantly, recent history suggests that the yield on the 10-year Treasury bond is less sensitive to changes in the Fed Funds rate and more responsive to the longer-term outlook."The Freddie Mac posting noted mortgage rates have shifted upwards since the dip in October."In the near-term, rates may continue to be volatile and higher rates will keep home sales muted for the remainder of this year," Freddie Mac said. "But as we get into 2025, we anticipate that rates will gradually decline throughout the year."While Fannie Mae's November forecast also called for lower rates, it no longer expects them to slip below the 6% mark on average not just for next year, but for 2026 as well.Fleming, too, is bearish on mortgage rate movements for the rest of 2024 and into next year, saying they are unlikely to decline in a meaningful amount "unless the Fed throws a curveball, such as cutting rates even more than expected, which would likely signal recession risk has risen significantly."Freddie Mac no longer provides forward looking guidance on origination volume. It noted in the second quarter it calculated $429 billion of total volume, of which $336 billion was for purchase."For 2025, we expect the decline in rates to boost refinance origination volumes," the Freddie Mac economics team said."This, coupled with expected increase in purchase originations due to a modest growth in home sales and home prices, should improve the mortgage market in 2025."Zillow Chief Economist Skylar Olsen, in a 2025 outlook posting made on Nov. 25, pointed out that this year's movements illustrate that "mortgage rates rarely follow the expected path."That means potential homebuyers next year should expect plenty of ups and downs."Mortgage rates fell in September, briefly bringing the share of affordable listings to a 19-month high," Olsen said. "They have since climbed back to nearly 7%, changing the affordability picture for homebuyers. More swings like this are expected in 2025, with refinancing sprints occurring during the dips."

A settlement between the National Association of Realtors and a group of homebuyers who sued the powerful trade group received a final green light on Tuesday.Judge Stephen Bough of the Western District of Missouri granted final approval to the commission settlement agreement the trade group initially agreed to eight months prior.In March, NAR said it would pay $418 million to settle claims and change some of its commission rules, which plaintiffs argued inflated costs for them.The association said it will prohibit offers of compensation to be made on Multiple Listing Services and mandate written agreements between Realtors and clients. NAR said it would mandate written agreements between Realtors and home purchasers and prohibit offers of compensation from being made on a multiple listing service. The rules went into effect on Aug. 17.Kevin Sears, president of NAR, said this is an important moment for the real estate industry, including NAR members, homebuyers, and sellers."As consumer champions, NAR's members have been working tirelessly to implement the practice changes required by the settlement and shepherd consumers through this period of transition," Sears wrote in a statement Tuesday. "The principles of transparency, competition and choice are core to the settlement agreement and empower real estate professionals and consumers to negotiate the services and compensation that work for them." The green light was given despite a last minute filing by the Department of Justice, which raised antitrust concerns. "The new provision that requires buyers and brokers to make written agreements before home tours may harm buyers and limit how brokers compete for clients. It bears a close resemblance to prior restrictions among competitors that courts have found to violate the antitrust laws in other proceedings and could limit — rather than enhance — competition for buyers among buyer brokers," the DOJ said in its filing.The department also made it clear that the settlement would not prevent it from taking action in the future if warranted.Despite the closing of this chapter, a series of unwanted headlines — including a recent New York Times investigation that featured critics questioning the salaries of the trade group's top executives and former officers with dubious current ties to NAR — raises lingering questions whether this will impact the trade group going forward.Coming on the heels of the highly publicized settlement, which itself followed a leadership shakeup in 2023 after a sexual misconduct scandal, the investigation might be considered the third leg of a "trifecta" that stands to further erode trust in the group among dues-paying members, mortgage industry stakeholders previously said.

The Federal Reserve's preferred measure of underlying inflation accelerated in October from a year ago, helping explain policymakers' more cautious approach to lowering interest rates.The so-called core personal consumption expenditures price index, which strips out volatile food and energy items, increased 2.8% from October last year and 0.3% from a month earlier, according to Bureau of Economic Analysis data out Wednesday. A good part of that acceleration was due to the impact of higher stock prices on the calculation.Inflation-adjusted consumer spending edged up 0.1% after an upwardly revised 0.5% gain in September, consistent with uneven demand over the course of the year. On a three-month annualized basis — a metric economists say paints a more accurate picture of the trajectory of inflation — the core PCE price gauge advanced 2.8%.The figures support recent comments by many Fed officials that there's no rush to cut interest rates so long as the labor market remains healthy and the economy continues to power ahead.While inflation is taking time to recede back to the Fed's 2% target, the policy path ahead will be complicated by President-elect Donald Trump's economic agenda. Stanley Black & Decker Inc. said it's already considering raising prices early next year in anticipation of higher tariffs.Treasuries pared gains after inflation data, while the S&P 500 remained a touch weaker.The pickup in inflation was due to service prices, reflecting a surge in portfolio management fees that coincided with a rally in stock prices. Core services prices — a closely watched category that excludes housing and energy — climbed 0.4% from a month earlier, the most since March. Core goods costs were unchanged.The PCE figures follow a slew of other economic releases ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday. A separate government report Wednesday showed gross domestic product increased an unrevised 2.8% in the third quarter, fueled by healthy advances in household and business spending.Income figures from the October PCE report offer the possibility for healthy spending growth in the months ahead. Inflation-adjusted disposable personal income increased 0.4% last month, the most since January.Moreover, nominal wages and salaries rose a solid 0.5%, while the saving rate increased for the first time since the start of the year.Spending BreakdownServices spending, which makes up the bulk of household consumption, rose 0.2% from a month earlier, largely reflecting health care outlays. Goods outlays ticked up.While the job market is solid, an elevated cost of living is stretching household budgets. That explains why Americans say they intend to spend less on holiday gifts this year.Economists will be closely watching Black Friday sales to get another reading on consumers' spending appetite. Big-name retailers Target Corp., Best Buy Co. and Walmart Inc. have all extended their holiday promotions in the hopes of attracting consumers seeking deals.  Many consumers are relying on credit cards and other loans to support their spending, with younger consumers and lower earners showing signs of financial strain like higher delinquency rates.

Pending sales of U.S. homes unexpectedly rose to a seven-month high in October as a brief drop in mortgage rates lured buyers.A National Association of Realtors gauge of contract signings increased 2% to 77.4 last month. That was well above all estimates in a Bloomberg survey, the median of which called for a 2% drop. Homebuyers frustrated by elevated financing costs got a short-lived reprieve in late summer when mortgage rates hit a two-year low. That spurred a wave of home buying that continued into October, even though rates began to rise again. "Home buying momentum is building after nearly two years of suppressed home sales," NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said in a statement. "Even with mortgage rates modestly rising despite the Federal Reserve's decision to cut the short-term interbank lending rate in September, continuous job additions and more housing inventory are bringing more consumers to the market."Pending sales indexes increased in all four U.S. regions, led by a 4.7% increase in the Northeast to the highest level since early last year. The South rose slightly despite hurricanes that struck the Southeast in late September and October.The supply of previously owned homes has rebounded to the highest level in four years — even if it's still well below prepandemic levels. Nonetheless, affordability remains a challenge. Economists now anticipate mortgage rates to stay higher for longer, with the Fed taking a more gradual approach to interest-rate cuts amid stubborn inflation. And prices of previously owned home prices have continued to climb on a year-over-year basis. Pending-homes sales tend to be a leading indicator for previously owned homes, as houses typically go under contract a month or two before they're sold.

Mortgage application activity picked up for the third week in a row, driven in part by a pullback in interest rates, according to the industry's largest trade group.The Mortgage Bankers Association's Market Composite Index, a measure of weekly application activity based on surveys of its members, jumped a seasonally adjusted 6.3% for the seven days ending Nov. 22. The latest increase comes off a 1.7% rise in the previous survey. Compared against the same period in 2023 when Thanksgiving arrived a week earlier, application volumes surged 18.1%. "Purchase activity drove overall applications higher last week, as conventional purchase applications picked up pace, and mortgage rates declined for the first time in over two months," said Joel Kan, MBA vice president and deputy chief economist, in a press release.The conforming 30-year fixed-mortgage rate slipped down 4 basis points from the previous week among MBA lenders to an average of 6.86% from 6.9%. Points used to buy down the rate remained unchanged at 0.7.Averages for the other most commonly used rate types saw similar downward movement. The 30-year contract jumbo rate averaged 6.97%, decreasing from 7.03% a week earlier. Borrowers used 0.73 points on average, rising from 0.63. The average 30-year rate for loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration fell 7 basis points to 6.61% from 6.68% week over week. Borrower points increased to 0.99 from 0.9. Rate movements led the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index to accelerate 12.4% from seven days earlier, maintaining momentum after a 2% increase in the previous survey.   "With the growth in for-sale inventory and signs that the economy remains strong, buyers have remained in the market even though rates have increased recently," Kan said. The Refinance Index, on the other hand, pulled back 2.6% following the previous week's 1.8% uptick. The share of refinances relative to total volume shrank to 38.8% from 41%. The encouraging signs overall for lenders last week came even as economic researchers, including experts from Fannie Mae and the MBA, lowered their forecasts for both full-year 2024 and 2025. Economists cited the likelihood of mortgage rates remaining higher than previously anticipated for tempered growth over the next several months. MBA predicted 2024 dollar volume to finish at $1.78 trillion, after forecasting a total of $1.79 trillion in October. The dropoff comes from fewer refinances, as the purchase outlook was left unchanged.For 2025, MBA sees both purchases and refinances dropping to a combined $2.14 trillion, down from the previous month's prediction of $2.3 trillion. In the weekly data, though, numbers still pointed to robust demand among buyers, across price levels. "The increase in conventional purchase applications helped push the average purchase loan size to $439,200, its highest level in almost a month," Kan said.Higher purchase activity also led the seasonally adjusted Government Index to squeeze out an 0.1% weekly increase. A 9.8% spike in federally backed purchases was largely offset by a fall in refinances.The share of government-sponsored activity shrank, though, with new FHA applications accounting for 16%, compared to 16.6% one week prior. The share of applications guaranteed by the Department of Veterans Affairs represented 12.4%, down from 13.6%. Mortgages backed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture grew to 0.5 of activity from 0.4% week over week. Meanwhile, adjustable-rate mortgage volume, which historically rises and falls in the same direction as fixed rates, bucked usual trends. The ARM share grew to 6.6% from 5.9% the previous week. 

Anniemac Home Mortgage did not protect customer data as it was legally required, a proposed class-action lawsuit argues.The complaint, filed by Franklin Montenegro, a current Anniemac customer, comes shortly after the mortgage lender disclosed it was hit by a cyberattack, which exposed the personally identifiable information of 171,000 current and former Anniemac customers in late August."Given that [Anniemac] was storing the personal information of plaintiff and class members and knew or should have known of the serious risk and harm caused by a data breach, the defendant was obligated to implement reasonable measures to prevent and detect cyberattacks," litigation filed in a federal New Jersey court said.The suit accuses Anniemac of negligence, breach of implied contract and of fiduciary duty.The New Jersey-based lender and servicer did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday. Bloomberg Law first reported the story.Days prior to the suit being filed, Anniemac disclosed that an unknown actor gained access to the lender's systems and viewed, or copied sensitive customer data between Aug. 21 and Aug. 23, per a notice filed with the Office of the Maine Attorney General. In letters to potentially affected customers, the company said names and Social Security numbers may have been compromised. The notice is "woefully inadequate," the litigation said, because it doesn't outline who exactly was behind the attack, how Anniemac plans to prevent similar events in the future, or provide its customers with identity monitoring services."Remarkably, the defendant put the burden on plaintiff and class members to take measures to protect themselves, advising them "remain vigilant by reviewing your account statements and credit reports closely," the litigation claims.This allegation clashes with Anniemac CEO Joe Panebianco's statement that the company did provide credit monitoring services to impacted customers, free of charge, in a previous interview with National Mortgage News.The suit argues that Anniemac "failed to ensure…sufficient processes to quickly detect and respond to data security incidents," creating a significant risk of identity theft and other forms of financial harm for customers going forward.Montenegro is asking for the court to certify his suit as a class-action and compel Anniemac to implement appropriate methods and policies to ensure that consumer data is safe and to disclose with specificity the type of PII compromised during the data breach.The mortgage industry has been an attractive target in recent years to cyber criminals due to the value of transactions taking place and their long lists of clients.Mr. Cooper, Loandepot, Fairway Independent Mortgage Corp. Planet Home Lending and many more have also recently been targeted by cyber criminals.As a result, home finance regulators, such as the Federal Housing Administration and Ginnie Mae, have moved to tighten data breach requirements for nonbanks.There has also been a surge in lawsuits filed by affected customers, with some recently reaching settlements. The amounts of these payouts vary significantly depending on the breach: Sage Home Loans recently agreed to a $925,000 settlement, while Loandepot reported losses in the eight-figure range to address the aftermath of its large-scale cyberattack last winter.