Legislation was signed into law last week giving the FHA more tools to guard against mortgage fraud and predatory lending, and protect consumers from abusive practices. Passed May 19 by the House on a 367 to 54 vote, the “Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009” enhances the ability of FHA and mortgage servicers to help homeowners modify or refinance into...
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A $50 million settlement agreement between Goldman Sachs and the Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General may not trigger any compliance issues today but it could come back and bite participants in a revived mortgage securitization market in the future, according to compliance experts. The settlement stemmed from Attorney General Martha Coakley’s investigation of investment banks...
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A pension fund has sued IndyMac Federal Bank and several asset securitization trusts owning IndyMac loans, alleging failure by the bank to abide by its own underwriting guidelines – a conduct that eventually led to bankruptcy and large investor losses. The putative class action lawsuit was filed May 14 by the Police and Fire Retirement System of the City of Detroit in...
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Industry groups are intent on stopping the implementation of a final Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act rule as they appealed to Senate leaders to support an amendment that would require the Department of Housing and Urban Development to suspend the rule. In a joint letter, seven trade associations urged Majority Leader Harry. Reid, NV, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell...
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Congress will not likely pass anti-predatory lending legislation this year as the issue takes a back seat to other priority issues in the Senate. “It’s déjà vu all over again,” said an industry executive in reference to 2007, when the House of Representative sent a strong anti-predatory lending bill to the Senate only to see it die due to inaction. History appears...
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Financial services trade associations and the Council of the Federal Home Loan Banks have asked the House Financial Services Committee to lean on accounting standard setters to further improve mark-to-market rules. In a joint letter May 13 to Committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-MA, and Ranking Minority Member Spencer Bachus, R-AL, the group urged the lawmakers to press for more changes to...
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Litigation involving credit default products has exploded in the last year and a half as the market for these complex, mortgage-related transactions collapsed, and the trend will most likely continue, according to legal experts. Since 2008, parties to these soured transactions have filed lawsuits to recoup or minimize losses when the mortgages underlying these transactions lost value as...
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A federal judge in Ohio dismissed the City of Cleveland’s public nuisance claim against numerous mortgage-backed underwriters, whom city officials blamed for the high foreclosure rate. In her May 15 ruling, Judge Sarah Lioi of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio threw out the complaint for failing to show an “unreasonable interference with a public right” and...
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District of Columbia: The City Council passed legislation May 5 implementing the SAFE Act provisions for registering and licensing mortgage loan originators. The Department of... Washington: On May 7, legislation was signed into law creating the “Prevent or Reduce Owner-Occupied Foreclosure Program.” S.B. 6033 requires the state...
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Federal Trade Commission: Red Flags Rule Template. The FTC has issued a template which regulated companies can use to use to design their identity... Office of the Comptroller of the Currency: CRA Estimated Median Incomes. The OCC has released U.S. Census and 2009 Department of Housing and Urban Developments estimates...
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The Conference of State Bank Supervisors has named Catherine Woody as director... Former Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman William Seidman passed... The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has named Michael Bradfield as general... The American Bankers Association will have its Regulatory Compliance... The Financial Accounting Standards Board is seeking comment on proposed...
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