Compliance & Regulation

The Federal Trade Commission is mailing over 450,000 checks to former customers of Countrywide Home Loans as part of a $108 million settlement involving allegations that CHL took advantage of delinquent borrowers and charged excessive servicing fees.

The loan modification process needs a reboot that uses technology to help borrowers understand the process and provide faster resolution to loan files, according to panelists speaking at the Best Practices in Loss Mitigation Conference that National Mortgage News' parent company SourceMedia sponsored this week in Dallas.

When the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau officially opens its doors Thursday, the new agency will be ready to field complaints about credit cards – but not mortgages or servicing performance.

After targeting two branch offices of Prospect Mortgage for an audit, the HUD Office of Inspector General is urging the Federal Housing Administration to conduct full underwriting reviews to protect the agency from paying potential claims on 166 delinquent FHA-insured loans.

The National Credit Union Administration late Monday filed its third lawsuit alleging violations of federal and state laws related to misrepresentations in the sale of MBS to now defunct corporate credit unions.

By waiting so long to nominate Richard Cordray to be the first director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, President Obama has boxed himself in and Cordray will have to be confirmed by the Senate for the new bureau to exercise its full powers.

California Governor Jerry Brown has signed SB 458 into law, preventing holders of second mortgages from pursuing a deficiency judgment on a borrower for unpaid debt after a short sale.

The law firm Hagens Berman is conducting an investigation whether several real estate investment trusts made false and misleading statements to investors.

A Washington state man has been sentenced to 25 months in prison for orchestrating a foreclosure rescue scheme that defrauded distressed homeowners more than $55 million.

For purposes of this rule, payments made by creditors to loan originators are not payments made directly by the consumer, regardless of how they might be disclosed under HUD's Regulation X, which implements the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act.