Compliance & Regulation

The voice of reason: What is your best idea for Obama to help Fannie/Freddie? Fannie and Freddie need to stop the bleeding and need your ideas. What is your idea?

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has rolled out a new $1 billion program to provide bridge loans of up to $50,000 for struggling mortgagors who have lost their jobs or suffered a significant loss of income.

Senator Richard Shelby, R-Ala., ranking Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, is calling on federal regulators to investigate the foreclosure problems at three major banks and report back to the committee.

Wells Fargo & Co. has agreed to pay $24 million to end an investigation by eight states looking into allegations that lenders acquired by the bank made risky payment option ARMs to consumers without disclosing their perils.

Ohio became the first state to sue a major servicer in the growing 'Foreclosure-gate' scandal, accusing the government-owned GMAC Mortgage of misleading the courts in hundreds of foreclosure cases by filing fraudulent affidavits.

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported a net loss of $16.4 million for its fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2009, almost double the loss of the prior year, according to its tax Form 990.

With Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac now requiring that all mortgage servicers review how they handle foreclosures, more questions are being raised about the impact that potentially invalid affidavits will have on the foreclosure process, on servicers and the industry overall.

House speaker Nancy Pelosi is urging the Department of Justice to launch an investigation into the handling of delinquent mortgages, loan modifications and foreclosures by banks for possible violations of laws and regulations.

A judge in Palm Beach County, Fla., late Monday ruled that the State Attorney General's office overstepped its authority when issuing a subpoena to examine the foreclosure practices of the Shapiro & Fishman law firm.

Texas on Monday asked 27 residential servicers doing business in the state to voluntarily suspend foreclosures and to halt sales of properties already foreclosed upon, according to a published report.