Compliance & Regulation

The United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio denied certifying a Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act class action lawsuit on March 11, 2010. The Carter v. Welles-Bowen Realty, Inc., case No. 3:05 CV 7427, consolidated No. 3:09 CV 400, 2010 WL 908464 (Northern District of Ohio) is a case where the plaintiffs asserted that Welles-Bowen Realty, Inc was engaged in operating illegal affiliated business arrangements (aka sham AfBAs) which is a violation of RESPA Section 8(a) and 8(b) (12. U.S.C. 2607 (a) and (b))

The Securities and Exchange Commission recently charged a New York-based investment adviser and three of his affiliated firms with fraudulently managing investment products tied to the mortgage markets as they came under pressure in 2007.

A group of investors is suing Fortuno, Inc., a Lodi, Calif.-based buyer of foreclosed homes and its outside marketing executives, alleging they illegally "enticed" the group to invest in the purchase and re-sale of REOs in Ohio and Michigan with the promise of high returns upon flipping the properties.

The Federal Housing Administration's efforts to shift the burden of supervising mortgage brokers to actual funders is creating a mini-boom in demand for brokers to bring in homebuyers and refinancing customers.

Senate Democratic leaders have rounded up three Republican votes and are close to securing passage of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform bill.

The Federal Housing Administration is giving states, cities and nonprofit housing groups participating in HUD's Neighborhood Stabilization Program first crack at bidding on its newly foreclosed properties before they are placed on the market.

A group of investors is suing Fortuno, Inc., a Lodi, Calif.-based buyer of foreclosed homes and its outside marketing executives, alleging they illegally "enticed" the group to invest in the purchase and re-sale of REOs in Ohio and Michigan with the promise of high returns upon flipping the properties.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has filed a $300-million negligence lawsuit against four former executives at IndyMac Bank FSB, accusing them of granting loans to homebuilders who were unlikely to repay the loans.

WASHINGTON-In passing a Federal Housing Administration reform bill, the House of Representatives approved an amendment that bans lenders from making FHA loans to borrowers who defaulted on their previous mortgage even though they had the capacity to make the payments.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency said it has issued 64 subpoenas to "various entities" as part of an inquiry into private-label securities purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with an eye toward the government recouping losses on nonprime assets.