Compliance & Regulation

The Federal Housing Administration has completed its reviews of the largest FHA servicing shops and is now processing notices of violations of its loss mitigation and foreclosure standards.

FDIC chairman Sheila Bair is calling on residential servicers to step up their efforts to modify loans and compensate homeowners harmed by the foreclosure process as part of a settlement with the federal government.

Federal banking regulators have nearly completed their reviews of the foreclosure processing problems at the nation's megabanks and will be briefing the companies' senior management on their findings soon.

NCUA told a federal court that it will add new charges against directors and officers of WesCorp FCU, even as its efforts to hold leaders of the corporate credit union accountable for the failure of the $34 billion corporate may be slipping away.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency confirmed that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are exploring possible changes to mortgage servicer compensation, but said implementation is unlikely before the summer of 2012.

U.S. banks exported billions of dollars of mortgage-backed securities losses to their peers in Germany and elsewhere in Europe before the housing collapse. Now those overseas institutions may join the effort to put back some of the losses.

The Ibanez case ruled against the lender in a lender-borrower dispute over the validity of a foreclosure proceeding is not just a highly political homeowners’ protection issue. It sets a precedent expected to greatly affect the mortgage industry in the future.

HUD has issued its new mortgagee letter ML 11-02. The requirement is all Direct Endorsement lenders must update their respective quality control plans to include review of Sponsored Third Party Originators and the FHA insured loans they generate. The update shall document the methodology used to review the sponsored TPO’s, review all TPO loans that go into default during the first six months (i.e. become 60 days past due within the first six payments.) (ml 2011-2)

The Treasury Department's continued silence on its pending plan for the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is fueling suspicion that the administration does not have a concrete proposal.

Now that the office parties have all concluded and the wrapping paper has hit the recycling bin, we must all turn our attention to this brave New Year. In our personal and professional lives, we will seek out that old comfortable standby, the New Year’s resolution. It would be comforting to think that recovery of the mortgage industry is simply a matter of a few timely resolutions.