Compliance & Regulation

A victim in a foreclosure scam and sale/leaseback transaction cannot state a TILA claim because the victim is not a “consumer” and the transaction is not a "consumer credit transaction" within the meaning of TILA. See Scott v/ Dearcp REO. Inc.TILA ¶¶ 1.04[16]. 1.04[17],U.S.D.C. NJ.

Fannie Mae has agreed to settle multi-million dollar claims brought by several of the biggest victims of the massive CU National Mortgage scandal, more than two years after the fraud brought down the largest independent mortgage wholesale provider to credit unions.

The Government National Mortgage Association said late Friday that it is expanding the parameters for loans to be repurchased from its trusts to include those that have successfully completed a three-month trial payment period.

Alex Gambini, the former owner of First Advantage Financial Services, Hamlin, Pa., will spend at least four years in prison for participating in a fraud scheme where he inflated property mortgages.

A rare public rebuke of a rogue attorney general by his colleagues has highlighted the dysfunction among the state AGs and raised doubts about their ability to strike a settlement deal with the nation's largest mortgage servicers.

A U.S. District Court judge in Oregon issued a pair of rulings in favor of Merscorp subsidiary Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc., but it remains unclear how those rulings will impact MERS' appeal of a third case where a second federal judge vacated an Oregon borrower's nonjudicial foreclosure.

Senator Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., is pressing the GSE regulator to adopt several changes to the Home Affordable Refinancing Program, allowing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to refinance more underwater borrowers.

The Mortgage Bankers Association is being inundated by member complaints about the Federal Housing Administration's policy decision to extend the forbearance period for unemployed homeowners to 12 months.

In an ironic twist, the commercial banking industry is coming to the defense of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

If President Obama wants to create jobs in the building trades he should create a housing trust fund to finance the construction and renovation of rental units for extremely low-income households, according to non-profit housing groups.