Compliance

Treasury’s policy director Laurie Anne Maggiano is concerned about misperceptions related to how the attorneys general servicing settlement money will affect borrowers and the marketplace over time.

The government's authority to issue new flood insurance policies expires at the end of May and the Federal Emergency Management Administration is urging Congress to pass a two-year extension of the National Flood Insurance Program.

Only time can tell which of the new loan solutions to the housing crisis will eventually succeed, but the search is still on. And at least one option introduced by Carpe Aquam Capital LLC of Marlton, N.J., has already earned the attention of policy makers and bankers alike.

The Agoura Hills, Calif.-based risk mitigation firm has integrated Google Maps satellite images into FraudGuard to help lenders decrease loan processing time and quickly identify external issues with properties.

Getting REO to market quickly can help optimize its selling value, but rushing the presale valuation process too much could prove counterproductive, according Carl Streck, principal at MountainSeed Appraisal Management.

While it is evident that loans are receiving a great deal of scrutiny these days, it is also true that appraisal reports are generally viewed most closely for the value they recommend, not the detail they contain.

Starting in January 2008 through August 2011, Menden admitted that he and a business partner, George Hranowskyj, conspired with Bank of Commonwealth insiders to purchase underperforming bank-owned properties in exchange for preferential lending treatment.

While by law the Federal Reserve Board must worry about price stability and unemployment, Chairman Ben Bernanke appears to have charted a third mandate for the central bank: financial stability.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency closed the $51.9 million-asset Fort Lee Federal Savings Bank. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. entered into a purchase agreement with Alma Bank in Astoria, N.Y., for $15.7 million of the failed thrift's assets.

It's nice to know there's one sector of the mortgage business that's hot. In fact, it may be overheating (does anyone want to say bubble?). It's the agricultural mortgage sector. Now, before you dismiss this niche as insignificant, read this.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development indefinitely debarred three Florida loan officers and a Pittsburgh title agent following their criminal convictions for defrauding elderly borrowers, mortgage lenders and the Federal Housing Administration.

Joseph Smith, the man responsible for ensuring that five of the nation's largest banks comply with the massive multi-state mortgage servicing settlement, has a stark message for the five banks involved: make sure your internal review teams are independent and thorough.

In a major setback for credit unions and banks, the Internal Revenue Service approved new rules that require depositories to report interest payments to nonresident aliens, starting in 2013.

Until not too long ago eWarehouseOne had a policy: if a firm didn't pass the application review stage, the company would return the mortgage banker's money. At least that's what company vice president Anthony Simich told National Mortgage News last month.

Single point of contact requirements for servicers aren’t just another compliance burden, they’re an opportunity for improved margins and lower loss severity, according to Craig Focardi, a senior research director at consulting firm TowerGroup.

New issue, private-label MBS backed by either recent vintage or seasoned loans funded since the downturn have generally had some type of mechanism to enforce and/or clarify parameters for repurchases, a Moody's Investors Service analyst told National Mortgage News.

In order to for any long-term economic recovery for the country, Peter Kassabov, chairman and CEO of Digital Risk, said it is important for companies to invest in and train their employees in order to remain in compliance with federal regulations.

As vacant properties rise across the country, code compliance is an ongoing challenge within the housing industry that servicers, property preservation companies and Realtors have to battle on a daily basis.

As Richard K. Davis sees it, the biggest remaining regulatory costs might be bottles of Tylenol for the compliance team. Though the Volcker Rule and other Dodd-Frank Act regulations are still being finalized, the outstanding risks will be manageable if not clerical, the chairman and chief executive of U.S. Bancorp (USB) said.

Most financial institutions would probably say that the National Labor Relations Board is the least of their worries. That may be changing.