Compliance

Congress is not likely to pass recently proposed legislation that would reform the Home Affordable Refinance Program and promote competition among mortgage servicers, according to analysts at the Royal Bank of Scotland.

President Obama traveled to a couple's home in Reno, Nev., on Friday in his effort to pressure Congress into passing legislation that would allow more Americans to refinance their mortgages.

The California Association of Realtors and the California District Attorneys Association have launched a campaign to warn homeowners about the alarming increase in scams targeting foreclosure victims.

Under the servicing settlement, state funds are supposed to be used “to avoid preventable foreclosures” and “ameliorate the effects of the foreclosure crisis.”

The owners of a Los Angeles-based real estate company were charged last week by the Securities and Exchange Commission with violating antifraud and securities registration provisions by defrauding investors through a business that had false track records.

The discussion in a number of panel sessions at the Mortgage Bankers Association National Secondary Market Conference in New York on May 6 through 9, was if, let alone when, private capital would return to the industry. In the exhibit hall, much of the vendor focus was on technology and compliance which would ease that transition. Nary a wholesaler or correspondent aggregator was exhibiting.

While the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. made significant progress Wednesday toward building its new resolution regime, it left a key component still on the table.

If the amendment were to become law, it would impact the posture of the Justice Department in any future negotiations with smaller mortgage servicers that did not participate in the recent settlement with the five largest servicers.

James Delbert McConville, a Fremont man, was sentenced to nearly eight years in prison and must pay more than $7 million in restitution after being convicted of conspiring to commit mail and wire fraud, federal prosecutors said.

One of the nation’s largest nontraded real estate investment trusts, Inland American Real Estate Trust Inc., is under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission for potential violations of securities laws regarding its fees and administration.

Carrington Holding Co. hired Bill King as its chief investment officer and head of asset and risk management.

The National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association has asked a federal regulator to craft a ‘qualified mortgage’ rule specifically for private reverse mortgages.

A former police officer and his wife began trial yesterday for allegedly causing some $210,000 of damages to their $1 million house after their credit union, San Diego Metropolitan CU, foreclosed on them two years ago.

Sen. David Vitter, R-La., is trying to force the Senate to quickly pass a five-year reauthorization of the flood insurance program this week.

Some loan officers hate appraisal management companies (AMCs) and here’s why: Several megabanks control AMCs through joint ventures and are making huge fee income while paying rank and file appraisers little.

The risk of material breach of representations and warranties "should be on the issuer," not the investor.

The Modification Team LLC, a Lawrenceville, Ga.-based mortgage business that offers services related to property sales, modifications and notaries, was issued a cease-and-desist order from the state’s Department of Banking and Finance.

The Federal Housing Administration’s single-family program is facing headwinds as the HUD secretary tries to keep the insurance fund above water and appease critics who want to reign in government programs.

Genworth Financial—which has been losing market share to rivals Radian and United Guaranty—this week made the decision to reduce its mortgage insurance rates for borrowers with loan-to-value ratios equal to or less than 95%.

Lenders, for the first time, are facing the possibility of paying "actual damages" as a result of the “qualified mortgage” definition, an attorney warned attendees at the Mortgage Bankers Association's National Secondary Market Conference in New York.