Compliance & Regulation

The independent consultants hired by bank servicers to review and assess the claims of millions of borrowers who may have been harmed in the foreclosure process will not be able to contact these borrowers directly or even talk with housing counselors, according to testimony at a Senate Banking subcommittee on Tuesday.

Some mortgage industry members are applauding Congressional efforts to raise the guarantee fees that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac charge lenders, saying the increases could help bring private investors back into the mortgage market.

When the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act was enacted into law in 2003, it was supposed to prevent military personnel from losing their homes while they were protecting our country. But years later there continues to be evidence companies need to better track their compliance with it.

FHFA Inspector General Steve Linick said he has opened "numerous" criminal and civil investigations of lenders, servicers, individuals and other firms that have victimized Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Senate Republicans plan to block the confirmation of Carol Galante to head the Federal Housing Administration until the Obama administration takes more forceful action to strengthen the government mortgage insurer - and issues a blueprint for dealing with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The Senate Banking Committee has scheduled a vote Tuesday on Thomas Hoenig to become vice chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Mortgage document preparation technology vendor DocuTech acquired competing doc prep technology Docs3D in a deal announced Tuesday.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency is urging a U.S. district court to block the city of Chicago from enforcing an ordinance that could increase the cost of maintaining foreclosed properties controlled by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

House Republican leaders have included a hike in GSE guarantee fees in their bill to extend a payroll tax holiday that is similar to a Senate version, which means seller/servicers could be facing higher g-fees next year.

Sometimes, mortgage origination fraud is easy to detect and other times it is frustratingly difficult. When a borrower deliberately lies about income, employment or identity, the fraud is clearly visible. But what about the case of an owner-occupied loan where the borrower never moves in, but still makes the payments as agreed?