What We're Hearing

If you're wondering what specifically HUD's Mortgagee Review Board found wrong with Lend America's underwriting practices, it's all in a new document I obtained via a Freedom of Information Act request. I'll be writing more about it in my weekend column, but here's one example: back in 2007, in approving a borrower, Lend America allowed the customer to count his expense check reimbursements as income. HUD says the company's 'dba' Ideal Mortgage Bankers "failed to verify" that these expense check reimbursements would continue. In the loan file, the travel expenses are referred to as 'per diem' income. Call me old fashioned, but I thought when you traveled for your company the idea was not to make money on your expense reports but to only get reimbursed for what you actually spent. The FOIA document I received omitted the customer's name but says he was an "inspector traveling through Florida"...