Compliance & Regulation

A bureau of the U.S Treasury Department may require mortgage brokers and independent mortgage banking firms to comply with the Bank Secrecy Act and set up anti-money laundering programs and file suspicious activity reports for the first time.

Though seriously wounded, the National Association of Mortgage Brokers has a lot of fight left in it.

Allied Home Mortgage Capital Corp has agreed to pay $38,000 fine for violations of branch office rules that require the corporation to pay all expenses of all branch offices. (See Mortgagee Approval Handbook 4050.1 Rev-2 ¶¶ 2-8, 2-14.B.). AHMCC also agreed to refund “improper fees” to two borrowers and “buy down the principal of one loan that was over-insured,” HUD said.

The next chairman of the House Oversight and Government Operations Committee wants to redirect nearly $30 billion committed to the Home Affordable Modification Program, using the money to help borrowers that failed at getting a loan modification.

The Georgia Department of Banking and Finance late this week issued a cease and desist order against PennyMac Loan Services, Calabasas, Calif., the servicing arm of the publicly traded mortgage firm.

A plan to reduce federal budget deficits and scale back the mortgage interest deduction garnered the support of 11 of 18 members on the President's National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform.

The quality of residential loans funded this year is slipping compared to 2009, according to a new report from Quality Mortgage Services LLC, a third party vendor that works on compliance and other issues.

Federal regulators took another beating on Capitol Hill this week for not getting ahead of problems in the mortgage servicing industry and not taking greater steps to stem foreclosures.

As regulators try to collaborate on new securitization rules, a fissure has emerged in bankers' own thinking on the subject.A united industry had lobbied Congress to exempt extra-safe loans from retention requirements in the Dodd-Frank Act.

Federal regulators issued guidelines late this week clarifying accepted procedures for real estate appraisals and evaluations.