Compliance & Regulation

Eight years ago a Bear Stearns research report on the mortgage insurance industry warned of a grave threat: In exchange for steering home buyers to the insurers, mortgage lenders were demanding unjustifiably lucrative reinsurance deals.

A senior Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee Monday criticized GOP tactics that he said appear aimed simply at slowing down the business of regulators.

Affordable housing advocates and mortgage industry groups are often on opposite sides of the debate over the future of lending, but recent regulations have created a common adversary for the two groups: the QRM.

Any borrower who believes they were harmed by a foreclosure initiated by 14 major servicing banks soon can seek out an independent review of their case, according to Comptroller of the Currency John Walsh.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development wants All American Home Mortgage Corp. to indemnify the Federal Housing Administration against future losses on five loans that were endorsed for more than $1 million that violated industry guidelines and reimburse the agency $181,515 for associated fees paid on one loan that had underwriting deficiencies.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will hike their guarantee fees some time next year to better reflect "that which would be anticipated in a private competitive market," FHFA acting director Ed DeMarco said Monday morning.

Mike Perry, who led IndyMac Bancorp until its collapse in 2008, is trying to rehabilitate his image, waging a public campaign rarely seen from an executive of a once high flying mortgage lender.

The California Department of Real Estate has revoked the broker license of Bic Pho along with his affiliated corporations Mariposa Mortgage and Vision Quest 21 for multiple acts of mortgage fraud involving the use of straw buyers and falsified loan applications.

The former chairman and commissioner of the Bergen County Improvement Authority who was also a principal in the mortgage brokerage firm Residential Mortgage Corp. recently pleaded guilty for his involvement in a mortgage fraud scheme that falsely claimed company employment for numerous mortgage borrowers.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency pushed back last week against claims that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were sophisticated investors that should have done a better job of vetting their purchases of mortgage-backed securities.