Compliance & Regulation

The loan-limit countdown has begun. In lieu of lower loan limits on conforming loans and mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration, some lenders have already stopped taking applications for financing in amounts above $625,500.

California attorney general Kamala Harris and the state's Department of Justice have taken legal action against several attorneys and law firms who used a fraudulent scheme to steal millions of dollars from distressed homeowners.

As part of an undercover investigation called “Operation Madhouse” conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Office of Inspector General and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division, 13 individuals have been arrested in Chicago for participating in a mortgage fraud scheme carrying out three separate transactions involving four homes on the city's south side.

Talal Ashek of Holland pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to submit false claims to a lending institution for his role in a mortgage fraud conspiracy. Sentencing will take place on Oct.17, before U.S. District Judge Neil V. Wake.

The founder, president and CEO of Triton Financial LLC, Kurt Barton, faces a life sentence in prison after a federal jury convicted him of carrying out a Ponzi scheme that victimized more than 300 individuals that resulted in investor losses of over $50 million.

It seems more mortgage brokers are receiving notices from the FDIC that they may be sued for delivering bad loans to failed banks that were major wholesalers.

The president of San Diego-based valuation data and technology provider DataQuick is defending his profession against what he says are misconceptions about the fundamentals of valuations and the current regulations of the industry.

A new coalition of faith-based and community organizing groups is calling on the state attorneys general to "stand firm" in their negotiations with the major banks and require principal reductions on underwater mortgages as part of any settlement.

Veros Real Estate Solutions said it's connected a “large lender” to its custom interface with the Uniform Collateral Data Portal.

The new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau could "potentially" share the results of its examinations of large banks with state attorneys general, according to K&L Gates attorneys.