Acting Pennsylvania Banking Secretary Victoria A. Reider has sent a letter alerting the commonwealth's mortgage companies about new guidelines outlining acceptable conduct for the state's 3,000 lenders and brokers.The new guidelines are part of an effort to protect consumers looking for home loans, the department said. They offer examples and definitions of practices considered dishonest, fraudulent, illegal, unfair, unethical, negligent, or incompetent. Companies that fail to conform to the new guidelines could face suspension, revocation, or nonrenewal of their licenses. The Department of Banking said it is also crafting regulations and seeking legislative reforms to better protect consumers. The changes mirror recommendations outlined in a 2005 report to the General Assembly, "Losing the American Dream: A Report on Residential Mortgage Foreclosures and Abusive Lending Practices in Pennsylvania."
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Elevated delinquency levels have not affected expected losses, however, due to home price appreciation, Fitch Ratings said.
5h ago -
Retail lenders, including Beeline, Tomo Mortgage and Rocket Mortgage, settled with the department over infractions like submitting a false certification to not having the proper liquidity to be in the program.
5h ago -
A pair of bills, one with bipartisan support, look to address the issues around heirs' property so these families can have clear title on their homes.
5h ago -
The agreement, in which the real estate giant admits no wrongdoing, will cover around 70,000 agents.
8h ago -
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