Compliance

For the fifth consecutive year, the rate of mortgage fraud increased compared to the prior year. In 2011, there was an 8% rise in year-over-year fraudulent mortgage applications in the United Kingdom.

A Houston family has been sentenced to federal prison for running a multi-million dollar mortgage fraud scheme that resulted in at least 70 homeowners defaulting on their mortgage payments.

The New York Federal Reserve has initiated a competitive bid in response to reverse inquiries for the holdings in two mortgage-related Triaxx collateralized debt obligations in the Maiden Lane III portfolio.

Annaly Capital Management Inc.generated a GAAP gain over the previous and year-ago quarters, and relatively stable earnings outside of unrealized gains or losses on financial instruments.

A new Federal Housing Finance Agency initiative will require the government-sponsored enterprise to create a common data standard and new servicing form under the Uniform Mortgage Data Program.

The Federal Reserve Board on Wednesday disclosed details of a private meeting held with chief executives of several major U.S. banks on efforts to overhaul the financial system.

From time to time I hear appraisers talk about the fact that they feel undervalued, and that the business they’re in is becoming increasingly difficult. Some feel it’s a downright hostile environment for appraisers today.

Wells Fargo plans to give its underwriters more control in approving mortgages that it retains in its own portfolio, as the bank tries to add high-quality assets to its balance sheet.

The risk that securitized commercial mortgages from the years of loose underwriting will have trouble refinancing at maturity is largely said to have not materialized, but a report last week indicates it is still an outstanding risk both domestically and internationally.

House Democrats said Tuesday that a Fannie Mae program to reduce mortgage principal was killed two years ago by ideologically blinded officials who ignored projections that the plan would save taxpayers money.

Fannie Mae and Citibank officials were developing a principal reduction pilot program that was supposed to go live in July 2010 when it was “mysteriously” stopped and later terminated.

n this season of high political drama it is not really surprising that potential candidates, as well as a myriad of federal agencies, are all jockeying for the most complimentary spot in the limelight. The National Fair Housing Alliance is no exception.

Loss severities on U.S. commercial mortgage-backed securities have reached 45%, according to Fitch, which said this is a point at which they could plateau.

Compliance within the financial services industry impacts the entire organization and is key to the bottom line for firms currently operating in the mortgage space. Comprehensive compliance risk management strategies are required to meet compliance obligations and also protect customers, employees and shareholders.

About 9,000 title industry insiders participated in the Ernst survey and 40% of respondents felt that fraud in real estate transactions had increased within the last year.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency hired Denise Dunckel as a senior associate director for the office of congressional affairs and communications.

A surge in mortgage lending drove strong profits for banks of all sizes in the first quarter, with some banks attributing the improvement to new regulations.

Ally Financial, in a new public filing, finally admits that it is weighing bankruptcy protection for its struggling residential mortgage division which is facing potential additional losses of up to $4 billion.

For a year now the government owned Ally Financial has kept mum on the idea of throwing ResCap into bankruptcy protection but the self imposed gag order came off late Friday night, squirreled away in the folds of a new 148-page SEC filing.

The National Credit Union Administration is preparing to ease the reins on the use of financial derivatives and allow more credit unions to deal in a variety of instruments that would help them hedge interest rate risk, including interest rate swaps, caps, floors, options and collars.