Compliance & Regulation

The Massachusetts Department of Banking told a credit union-owned mortgage lender in a new legal opinion that its mortgage officers must obtain state licenses under the SAFE Act.

Two top executives at the now defunct Taylor, Bean & Whitaker were sentenced late last week for their involvement in a $2.9 billion fraud scheme that brought down the top ranked nonbank lender, and its chief warehouse backer, Colonial Bank.

If there’s one issue in all of finance that sorely needs some sorting out, it’s mortgage regulation and compliance. Dodd-Frank, TILA-RESPA reform, risk retention, servicing agreements and consent orders, qualified residential mortgages, Basel III, there are seemingly dozens of new laws and regulations mortgage lenders must comply with.

The Department of Justice has more than a dozen open investigations into violations of the nation's fair lending laws -- probes that could lead to charges against mortgage firms if investigators find a pattern of abuse, according to a key department official.

While most of the attention so far has focused on who will be the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, would-be employees are increasingly anxious about how and when the agency plans to fill the lower ranks.

FEMA administrator Craig Fugate is urging Congress to act on a multi-year extension of the National Flood Insurance Program to create more stability in the housing market.

On May 28 PHOENIX RESIDENT PAIGE KINNEY, AKA JAIMELEE LAWLER, 42, pleaded guilty in two separate cases in federal district court. In one case, Kinney admitted to her leadership role in a $40 million mortgage fraud involving Countrywide Home Loans, and in the second case, she admitted to committing bankruptcy fraud, bank fraud, and mail fraud.

By early July the Federal Housing Finance Agency is expected to release its long-awaited proposal on changing servicing compensation, offering the industry three initial options, according to servicing advisors close to the matter.

A Texas mortgage broker, Rodney Anderson, has single-handedly pushed for legislation that requires medical bills of $2,500 or less to be expunged from credit reports if the debts have been paid or settled.

With regulators struggling to decide which loans to excuse from risk-retention, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Sheila Bair said Thursday the best option would have been to shelve the exemption altogether.