Compliance & Regulation

Three surviving spouses of reverse mortgage borrowers have sued HUD, alleging that what HUD characterized in 2008 as a clarification of its policy constituted a change from long-established federal rules that should have protected them from having to repay lost equity in order to stay in their homes.

Mortgage servicers may be wary of entering into a global settlement with the state attorneys general because whatever deal is struck between the two parties would not be binding on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Radius Capital Corp. and its president, Robert DiGiorgio, have been charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission with securities fraud for allegedly making false and misleading statements related to the company’s issuance of mortgage-backed securities guaranteed by Ginnie Mae.

Mortgage fraudster Michael McGrath, who siphoned off $140 million of credit union funds through his company, U.S. Mortgage Corp. and its CU National Mortgage affiliate, will serve at least 12 years of a 14-year prison term meted out by a federal judge two weeks ago, according to prosecutors.

Federal regulators are working toward a very narrow definition of “qualified residential mortgage” that would force securitizers of high-quality loans to retain 5% of the credit risk. Only well-underwritten mortgages with 20% downpayments would be classified as QRMs and be exempt from risk retention.

The National Association of Mortgage Brokers is expected to file suit against the Federal Reserve Board Wednesday morning, seeking to block the agency's controversial loan officer compensation rule.

Federal Reserve Board staffers may be reconsidering their position on how fees paid to real estate brokerage and title agency affiliates of mortgage firms are treated under the agency's pending loan officer compensation rule, National Mortgage News has learned.

Lenders are finding that more seniors are turning to Federal Housing Administration-insured reverse mortgages as a last resort to their financial problems, according to Generation Mortgage chairman Jeff Lewis.

The Federal Reserve Board said it will host a webinar March 17 to provide "updated information" and answer questions about its controversial loan officer compensation rule, which goes into effect April 1.

In what could be called the housing finance industry's version of "Scared Straight," a veteran regulatory attorney read the riot act to a group of industry executives in Las Vegas, warning them that the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau can be expected to come down hard on mortgage firms that don't toe the line.