Compliance & Regulation

On Oct. 3, Mark Alan Helsing, a broker for "hard-money lenders," pleaded guilty to multiple felony counts for stealing $6.9 million from investors in a Ponzi and real estate fraud scheme, authorities said. He faces a potential term of 15 years in prison at his sentencing Dec. 5 by Superior Court Judge Craig E. Robison.

The House of Representatives this week passed a bill to assist unemployed veterans through a measure that also extends the maximum VA loan limits for three more years.

Officials from the government-sponsored enterprises continue to encourage lenders to be proactive with their appraisal and origination technology vendors in preparation for the new requirements in the Uniform Mortgage Data Program.

The government indicted a Philadelphia mortgage broker this week, accusing him of masterminding a $4 million mortgage fraud scheme that he allegedly ran through Police & Fire Federal Credit Union.

Joe Pierce doesn't hold a grudge when a farmer finds more favorable terms with a Farm Credit lender, but he isn't prepared to give up government-backed home loans as easily.

Examiners from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau soon will visit the servicing shops of the nation's largest banks to check on their handling of defaulted borrowers seeking loan modifications or entering the foreclosure process.

As policymakers inch slowly toward reforming the housing finance system, the Federal Home Loan Banks and their allies have a simple message to Congress: leave the system alone.

Congress should require the Federal Home Loan Banks to pay for an explicit government guarantee on their debt, according to a former GSE regulator and congressman.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development late Wednesday said it suspended former LendAmerica president Michael Primeau from conducting any business with the agency after his admission that he engaged in a "wide-scale mortgage fraud scheme."

Quandis has developed a new Web-based application that automates short sell workflows and streamlines communication between servicers, lenders, borrowers and real estate agents.