Compliance & Regulation

As they get ready to deal with the challenges of the New Year credit counselors, lenders and servicers are reshuffling their fraud prevention efforts and joining resources.The Consumer Federation of America is combating fraud one scam at a time by bringing together communities at the state and local level.

The number of mortgages with negative equity fell nearly 2% in the third quarter from the previous quarter mostly due to foreclosures, according to a CoreLogic report issued Monday morning.

Though regulators have so far been vague about what kinds of national servicing standards they hope Congress will enact next year, momentum appears to be growing behind the concept.

Anyone expecting a quick and narrow resolution of mortgage servicers' troubles from foreclosure process failures probably hasn't talked to Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, who heads the 50-state coalition investigating the industry.

On Dec. 3, KATHY PUCKET OF RICHMOND, IND., was sentenced to 51 months upon her guilty plea to mail fraud and obstructing justice. This followed an investigation by the Richmond Police Department, Indiana Secretary of State Todd Rokita's Prosecution Assistance Unit, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Muncie Office. (Notice the cooperation of multiple agencies)

The Government National Mortgage Association is doubling its net worth requirements for multifamily issuers to $1 million as well as imposing new capital and liquidity standards on firms.

Bank of America has directed its foreclosure attorneys to proceed with 16,000 foreclosure cases after a two-month hiatus where it took steps to ensure that cases were being processed correctly.

Joseph Smith, the White House nominee to be the new GSE regulator, is getting dragged into the fight over whether Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should participate in a principal reduction program managed by the Federal Housing Administration.

WASHINGTON — Mortgage brokers are concerned that in the coming months wholesale lenders will impose more restrictions on their operations as a result of the Federal Reserve's new compensation rules for LOs.

As the White House and Treasury continue to work on their recommendations to revamp the housing finance system — in particular, the GSEs — a new round of layoffs has begun at Freddie Mac with cuts soon coming at Fannie Mae, according to GSE and other officials.