Compliance

Evans Bancorp in Hamburg, N.Y., has agreed to pay $825,000 to settle a lawsuit that accused the company of mortgage redlining.

The Justice Department's announcement that it would target individual executives at banks and other companies that are being investigated for wrongdoing has sparked a debate about whether the move is actually substantive or instead just designed to boost the agency's public image.

The rising costs to service mortgages reflects a market where there are not only downsides to being too small, but hurdles to being too large — raising the question of whether there's a middle ground where servicers are not too big, not too small, but just right.

Three former Nomura Holdings Inc. traders pleaded not guilty to charges that they defrauded investors by inflating the prices of mortgage-backed securities in the wake of the U.S. financial crisis.

Comptroller of the Currency Thomas Curry said banks could consider loan-to-value ratios above 90% to help revitalize areas hurt by the housing crisis.

Three former Nomura Holdings Inc. traders were charged with defrauding investors by inflating the prices of mortgage-backed securities, the latest cases to come out of a U.S. crackdown on deceptive sales practices in the market for complex bonds.

Every consumer with a 401(k), retirement account or brokerage account ought to care about whether the government has the right to unilaterally amend a company’s operating agreement.

Nearly 20 trade groups representing lenders, banks, credit unions, title companies and others are urging federal regulators to provide guidance on how they plan to enforce a new mortgage disclosure regime that goes into effect Oct. 3.

Amid growing concerns about compliance costs in title insurance, a trio of title agents has formed a consortium to help smaller firms manage their back offices more efficiently.

Walter Investment Management has reached a settlement with federal authorities over reverse-mortgage practices at a business unit.

Two top Justice Department and CFPB officials said this week that they are seeing more instances of redlining and lenders steering minority borrowers into higher cost loans.

About a fifth of the $163 million in credit Citi has earned under terms of the 2014 settlement would be considered extra credit. Citi can earn extra credit by doing things such as completing loan modifications early or reducing loan-to-value ratios below certain levels.

Regulators are unsympathetic to lender losses created by loan officer mistakes, but even with a close reading of compensation rules, a compliant path is still unclear.

The Federal Housing Administration is re-issuing a loan certification proposal that has sparked industry concerns that it will make it easier for the Justice Department to sue lenders when they file claims for agency-insured loans that go into default.

More than half of real estate agents are planning to extend their sales contracts to provide more time for the closing process due to the coming implementation of new mortgage disclosures.

Fraud risk has diminished as a result of widespread changes that lenders have made to their origination practices, according to Fitch Ratings.

M&T Bank has agreed to pay $485,000 and change its lending policies to settle a lawsuit that accused the Buffalo, N.Y., company of racial discrimination in making mortgage loans.

Bank of America has settled a national class-action lawsuit brought by former employees who claimed they weren't paid for overtime work.

As marketing services agreements increasingly fall out of favor, a more level playing field may emerge where loan officers must aggressively compete on their skill and service to win referral business.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development's policies governing the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage program failed to detect instances where borrowers failed to comply with residency requirements, according to a report.