Compliance

Al Siapno, a Border Patrol agent from San Diego and his wife Leila have pleaded guilty in a mortgage-fraud scam that involved at least 24 other people and several home loans throughout the county. The alleged perpetrators listed in a federal indictment overstated incomes, over-appraised home values and used other fraudulent means to obtain millions of dollars in mortgages.

Wells Fargo's origination business has been operating at full steam, keeping the company’s mortgage servicing assets well above a cap proposed under Basel III. A new servicer compensation system could resolve the issue, but something has to give.

Foreclosure law firm Steven J. Baum P.C. and Pillar Processing LLC have agreed to a $4 million settlement with New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman for conducting improper legal filings against distressed homeowners.

Fannie Mae granted more than 11,000 exceptions to its lending standards for single-family mortgages it owned in early 2005, according to a new government report attempting to explain how Fannie's portfolio faltered during the housing bubble.

Wells Fargo/Wells Fargo Funding isn't saying much about its 'exclusionary list' of mortgage firms that it will not buy loans from in the secondary market. (National Mortgage News has been reporting on the issue since Monday.) And of course, correspondent lenders want to know one thing and one thing only: Am I on the list?

The National Credit Union Administration said it will receive roughly $5.25 million from HSBC for settling claims against the banking giant related to mortgage-backed securities it sold to five now defunct corporate credit unions.

Administration officials are trying to get the Federal Housing Finance Agency to reconsider its resistance to principal reductions on loans purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner told lawmakers Wednesday.

Delaware can now officially go after violators of the state's new Mortgage Loan Modification Services Act, which is aimed at protecting homeowners from providers offering these services in unfair or deceptive ways.

Mortgage bank scorecards are changing an industry that has not yet found the right balance between efficient rating standards and regulated oversight.

The Federal Housing Administration has revamped a little used program for refinancing underwater conventional loans, and extended its "short refinance" program until the end of 2014.

A federal judge declined Tuesday to dismiss charges that Barclays Capital packed a collateralized debt obligation it sold to Eastern Financial Florida CU with junk, hastening the demise of the one-time $2.4 billion credit union, the biggest natural person credit union failure ever.

We still haven't heard from Wells Fargo & Co./Wells Fargo Funding about its exclusionary list of mortgage banking firms - lenders that it will not buy loans from in the secondary market. As you might imagine the story we published Tuesday about the topic caused quite a stir in the industry plus a ton of traffic to the National Mortgage News website.

Flagstar Bancorp Inc. increased its loss for the fourth quarter and 2011 by $4.2 million after revising a payment to settle claims regarding underwriting practices associated with loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration.

The former chief financial officer of Taylor, Bean & Whitaker on Tuesday pleaded guilty to covering up one of the largest mortgage frauds in U.S. history.

I just came across an article posted on the Community Associations Network website tallying the top 10 condo and HOA news stories of 2010. What made the top of the list? Revenue shortages.

The correspondent lending arm of Wells Fargo Bank this week began publishing a list of third-party originators that it will no longer buy loans from in the secondary market -- as a way to address what it calls "risks" in loan origination.

Congress has restored a housing counseling fund for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development after eliminating it in 2011 and at almost half of the $88 million approved during the first two years of the Obama administration. Now HUD officials worry about the amount of settlement dollars to be used for counseling.

Mortgage bondholders are threatening legal action over the $25 billion national mortgage settlement, which will give the five largest servicers credits for principal writedowns that the bondholders may take.

I started my first day at Goldman Sachs in 2004. As with all GS employees in New York, I sat through an all-day briefing on the firm, the culture, and the rules of the road. It was the most comprehensive session for new employees that I have ever experienced. That first day and all subsequent days after that while working at Goldman Sachs always exceeded my expectations.

Wells Fargo is already contacting borrowers who might be eligible for a principal reduction as required under the $25 billion robo-signing settlement with state and federal law enforcement agencies.