Compliance & Regulation

A homebuilder has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Baltimore for conspiring to commit wire fraud arising from a construction investment scheme.

Recent mortgage industry rules such as those laid out as part of Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act and good-faith estimate reform have pushed the need for improved compliance closer to point of sale, Martin Williams, CEO Acris Technology, told this publication.

Internet scams were the top consumer fraud complaint in 2011, according to New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, but mortgages also earned a mention.

Two mortgage industry trade groups are urging the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to focus its unique powers on streamlining regulations that would improve residential disclosures to consumers.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will issue mortgage servicing rules this year that would impose new limits on force-placed insurance products and require additional disclosures for adjustable-rate mortgages, Director Richard Cordray said Tuesday.

As if appraisal management companies, readily available automated valuation models and broker priced opinion options were not enough challenges to the real estate appraisal profession, well-intended federal and state regulations are generating new controversy.

Investors in Government National Mortgage Association MBS have little to fear from FHA's effort to juice its streamline refinancing program, according to analysts at Bank of America/Merrill Lynch.

After months of stating that the housing market needs to bottom out in order to hasten an economic recovery, Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney shifted to a more proactive message on housing during a weekend campaign appearance.

As cities and towns across the country struggle to pay bills and prevent troubled properties from giving rise to blighted neighborhoods, they're turning by the hundreds to a new tactic.

The Federal Trade Commission has brought more than 90 cases since 2009 to stop deceptive practices such as falsely promised assistance with mortgage modifications, and there are likely to be more actions related to modification fraud ahead, FTC officials said in recent testimony.