Compliance

The Federal Trade Commission has brought more than 90 cases since 2009 to stop deceptive practices such as falsely promised assistance with mortgage modifications, and there are likely to be more actions related to modification fraud ahead, FTC officials said in recent testimony.

Fannie Mae said Monday it has taken its first step in providing additional loan-level disclosures by releasing a series of at-issuance data.

If the U.S. economy needs more stimulus, resuming the Federal Reserve's mortgage-backed security purchase program "would probably be the best course of action," according to San Francisco Fed President John Williams.

On Feb. 16, a federal grand jury in Tucson returned a four count indictment against Rex Adams for Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud, and False Statement to Influence a Financial Institution. At the time of the allegations raised in the indictment, Adams worked as a manager and loan officer for a mortgage broker in Tucson.

The National Association of Federal Credit Unions told leaders of the Senate Banking Committee last week that the credit union industry, which is emerging as one of the most important players in the home loan market, is opposed to any mortgage reforms that would include elimination of the federal guarantee on loans sold on the secondary market currently through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

A federal judge has ordered the former CEO of Brookstreet Securities Corp. to pay a maximum $10 million penalty in a securities fraud case related to the financial crisis.

Bond insurer MBIA Inc. reported losses in the fourth quarter of 2011. In a report released last week, MBIA said that it had an adjusted pre-tax loss of $252 million in the fourth quarter. That compares to an adjusted pre-tax loss of $311 million in the fourth quarter of 2010.

A federal court in Newark has issued an order effectively requiring CUMIS Insurance Society to cover millions of dollars of losses suffered by Sperry Associates Federal Credit Union in the massive mortgage fraud committed by U.S. Mortgage and its CU National Mortgage unit.

There is definitely no shortage of "knowns," and lenders who seek to understand even more can become acquainted with resources such as the 805-page Supervision and Examination Manual that was recently published by the CFPB. However, this is where hubris becomes dangerous, because unknowns remain.

A mortgage rescue scheme conspirator has been sentenced to five years in prison for his role in a scam that affected at least 1,800 distressed homeowners in Phoenix.

The Treasury Department has agreed to pay $171 million that it withheld from Bank of America, and JPMorgan Chase after the two servicers fixed problems in how they handled government-backed residential loan modifications.

Negative equity and home price volatility have turned home price protection into a desirable yet unattainable option since protecting local housing markets from future devaluation is a challenge few insurers are willing to take on.

The speed at which fraudsters attack and alter their tactics is changing the game in card fraud prevention, making real-time monitoring much more essential.

While MERS QA is neither unreasonable nor unexpected, the challenges uncovered in the race to comply are significant. Never before has the industry asked servicers to ensure the data of originators.

JP Morgan Chase & Co. told a federal court in Wichita, Kan., that it should reject NCUA's claims regarding $1.4 billion of mortgage-backed securities sold to four failed corporate credit unions and dismiss the suit without even allowing for discovery.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York announced the sale of the rest of the securities in the Maiden Lane II LLC (ML II) portfolio.

Banks and consultants are looking to improve money laundering detection systems using lessons adapted from their fight against consumer fraud.

Fannie Mae, in a new SEC filing, says that in late January it cut off Bank of America from selling most types of loans to the GSE because of "delays" by the lender in making good on outstanding buyback requests.

Federal Housing Finance Agency acting director Edward DeMarco continued to play defense Tuesday as senators grilled him over his unwillingness to let Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac forgive struggling homeowners' debt.

During a pair of appearances Tuesday on Capitol Hill, top housing officials from the Obama administration sought to reassure members of Congress about the financial condition of the Federal Housing Administration.