The Department of Justice and civil rights advocates have expanded their fair lending scrutiny from traditional mortgage origination issues to back-end servicing issues, as the Obama administration makes more information publicly available under the Home Affordable Modification Program. While the DOJ continues to keep a sharp eye on potential mortgage redlining, reverse redlining...
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This week, the House-Senate conference committee will work to harmonize two competing versions of regulatory reform legislation and produce a final bill that would change the way the mortgage industry operates. The committee – with 16 core House conferees and 12 Senate conferees – will work primarily from the massive Senate bill, which last week incorporated certain provisions from the...
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A federal appeals court in Pennsylvania has upheld a lower court ruling rejecting borrowers’ claim of lender liability for mortgage broker misconduct. In Jones v. SunTrust Mortgage, Countrywide Home Loans, et al, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed a district court finding that plaintiffs had failed to show that the mortgage lenders were equally...
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The House of Representatives last week passed legislation that would strengthen the Federal Housing Administration’s ability to curb mortgage fraud and irresponsible lending to protect homebuyers and rid the program of bad lenders. H.R. 5072, the FHA Reform Act of 2010, would also raise the cap on the annual premiums charged to borrowers under the FHA single-family mortgage guarantee...
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Mortgage industry participants are pondering a set of questions posed by the Department of Housing and Urban Development as the agency reconsiders the current prohibition against the “required use” of affiliated settlement service providers. In an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking published earlier this month, HUD said it intends to “keep an open mind on how to approach this vexing...
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Publicly adjudicated disciplinary and enforcement actions against mortgage loan originators will become available for public inspection in 2011, according to the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry’s 2009 annual report. The availability of such information will help state and federal regulators track the movement of potentially predatory and abusive loan...
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Bank of America has agreed to reimburse $108 million to homeowners who were allegedly overcharged by two Countrywide mortgage servicing subsidiaries for property preservation while seeking protection in bankruptcy court. The defendants, Countrywide Home Loans and BAC Home Loans Servicing (formerly Countrywide Home Loans Servicing), admitted to no guilt or wrongdoing but agreed to settle...
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Maryland. On May 20, S.B. 878 was signed into law requiring reverse mortgage lenders and arrangers... New York. State banking regulators announced that more than 57,256 90-day pre-foreclosure notices... Colorado. On May 26, H.B. 10-1141 was signed into law, creating a new state mortgage regulator... Minnesota. Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty recently signed SF 2430, a bill that amends reverse...
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Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission: FCIC Subpoenas Goldman Sachs. The FCIC has subpoenaed Goldman Sachs for failing... Department of Housing and Urban Development: LGBT to Enjoy Civil Rights Protection. HUD said it intends to propose new regulations... Federal Trade Commission: ‘Forensic Audits.’ The FTC has added several new defendants and charges to its lawsuit against...
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The Congressional Budget Office estimates that implementing H.R. 5072... On June 3, the government rolled out a new modification product for... For the third time this year, Congress failed to reauthorize the National Flood... More than 104,000 borrowers received loan modifications during April under... Vice Chairman Donald Kohn has announced that, at the request of...
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