Compliance & Regulation

Juan Rangel, Downey, Calif., has been sentenced to 22 years in Federal prison for running two fraud schemes—a Ponzi scheme that took in at least $30 million from more than 500 victims, and a mortgage fraud scheme that preyed on working-class homeowners by stealing the equity from their homes and secretly taking title to their properties.

Big banks and Washington aren't on the same page—again.

Unless Congress comes up with some fresh cash by midnight Friday, the federal government will shut down — and along with it the Federal Housing Administration and its popular mortgage insurance programs. And an apparent deal to extend government operations would only kick the can down the road for another two weeks.

Government funding for Native American housing continues on its seesaw. While President Obama’s 2012 budget calls for an all-time high of $700 million for the Indian Housing Block Grant, the continuing resolution for fiscal 2011 has been slashed to $500 million.

Come April 1, the Federal Reserve Board is raising the threshold that triggers mandatory escrow accounts for jumbo loans.

The Obama Administration is willing to start the process of winding down Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but it must be done gradually over as many as five to seven years to prevent disruptions to the mortgage market and the economic recovery, according to a high ranking Treasury Department official.

Real estate valuation provider PCV Murcor has hit its 30-year anniversary.

Carrington Capital Management, a former subprime securitization specialist, salvaged an impressive amount of money from its low-ranked residential mortgage-backed securities, thanks to the unusual strategies of its servicing affiliate.

Investors and analysts have howled over specific mortgage servicers' handling of delinquent loans for years. The ratings industry generally has not.

The National Association of Mortgage Brokers is contemplating suing the Federal Reserve Board over its looming loan officer compensation rule, according to trade group officials familiar with the matter.