The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is warning national banks that they can face "substantial penalties" for participating in "sham" business arrangements with title companies, real estate brokers and other settlement service providers.An OCC bulletin advises national banks to "carefully review" the Department of Housing and Urban Development's policy statement on affiliated business arrangements so that they don't violate the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act's prohibitions on referral fees. "The policy statement provides guidance for assessing whether payments to a third party are for services rendered and yield an acceptable return on ownership interest, or are for an illegal payment for the referral of settlement service business," the OCC bulletin says. HUD has become more aggressive in going after sham affiliations in the past few years.
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Doxo plans to fight the FTC complaint, which focuses broadly on consumer finance, but there are signs of confusion about the company's role in mortgages too.
April 25 -
Members of the LGBTQ community were most likely to have experienced housing bias, according to a Zillow survey, which also found many people don't recognize how fair lending laws could help.
April 25 -
Senior executives making over $151,000 would still be subject to such clauses should the rule go into effect this year.
April 25 -
Christopher J. Gallo and his aide, Mehmet A. Elmas, allegedly withheld information in mortgage applications, hiding that borrowers were purchasing second home properties.
April 25 -
Mortgage rates rose 7 basis points this week, Freddie Mac said, and more increases are likely following a weaker than expected gross domestic product report.
April 25 -
Independent mortgage bankers lost the most money ever on every loan originated last year due to higher rates and lower volumes, an industry trade group said.
April 25