Compliance & Regulation

Kirchmeyer & Associates Inc., a Buffalo, N.Y.-based appraisal management company, is now offering its clients collateral valuation insurance which protects them against default losses including repurchase expenses. Eligible loan types include first and second mortgages as well as home equity lines of credit.

Quicken Loans says it is waiting for mortgage insurance companies to issue guidance before it starts refinancing GSE loans with existing MI policies under the new Home Affordable Refinance Program.

The Attorney General of Arizona has filed a complaint against Mortgage Capital USA and its CEO, Gustavo Anaya, for allegedly conducting an illegal home loan modification scheme involving multiple business entities.

A former Pennsylvania real estate agent has been convicted of four counts each of wire fraud and money laundering for defrauding more than $6.2 million from 14 mortgage lenders and 34 homeowners.

Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., will announce today that he will not seek re-election next year, capping a 32-year career in Congress, a spokesman said Monday.

Government officials are likely to lessen large banks' liabilities over how they handled delinquent Federal Housing Administration-insured mortgages as part of a settlement with the largest mortgage servicers, according to people briefed on the negotiations.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau plans to provide early warning of possible enforcement actions. Subjects under investigation to be given opportunity to respond to CFPB concerns, On Nov. 7, CFPB outlined plans to provide advance notice of potential enforcement actions to individuals and firms under investigation.

The government-sponsored enterprises' Uniform Mortgage Data Program has been marred with delays and setbacks since the earliest steps began at Fannie Mae two-and-a-half years ago with the precursor to the Uniform Collateral Data Portal, the technology platform that will accept full electronic appraisal reports in a new XML-formatted data file.

Only one county in the country–Fairfield, Conn.–will have a higher conforming loan limit in 2012. The ceiling in the other 3,200-plus counties will remain unchanged.

A New York court has said that an appraisal-related suit involving First American Corp. and its former eAppraiseIT LLC unit, now a part of CoreLogic, can move forward, ruling against a jurisdictional challenge.