Compliance

Not so long ago, I mused in a column for this publication about the dearth of qualified underwriters available at a time when the industry is in desperate need of them. It was Hemingway who first introduced me to the concept of the Lost Generation, a situation that seems to have entered our reality today.

Seven individuals in the Cleveland area have agreed to plead guilty to bank fraud charges in the 2010 failure of St. Paul Croatian Federal Credit Union and will testify against the main figure in the case, a purported international crime figure.

If anyone thought the GSE 'Buyback Wars' would subside in 2012 all they have to do is read a recent SEC filing from Bank of America, the poster child of repurchase claims. The bank notes that the "criteria by which the GSEs are ultimately willing to resolve claims have changed in ways that are unfavorable to us."

As 2012 begins, the California Department of Real Estate is still warning consumers to be wary of promises for loan modification, mortgage relief and foreclosure rescue scams as fraudsters to continue prey on vulnerable, financially stressed homeowners.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network has extended the deadline for financial institutions to adopt the agency's new Currency Transaction Report and Suspicious Activity Report until the end of March 2013.

Patrick Thesing has been named the chief compliance officer for Houston-based Stewart Information Services Corp.

A Rhode Island mortgage loan processor with National City Mortgage Co. has pleaded guilty to participating in a straw-borrowing scheme that brought in more than $3.5 million in fraudulently obtained mortgages.

A former Bronx, N.Y., borough president, who currently is the New York and New Jersey regional director for the Department of Urban Housing and Development, admitted in a disposition that he violated the city's conflict of interest law that prohibits elected officials from using their position to obtain financial or personal incentives.

Mortgage fraud is so prevalent today that even individuals related to celebrities are creating scams in order to steal money from future homeowners.

Flippers doing it illegally defraud banks by buying at short sales for prices below the true value and what legitimate buyers will pay. In these schemes, realty agents obtain FRAUDULENT APPRAISALS to persuade banks to sell houses at below-market prices.

It's time for eggnog and yearend lists—top news stories, newsmakers, stuff like that. But what about the great mortgage rumors that got away? Here lay five stories/rumors that went nowhere:

The Federal Housing Finance Agency believes California Attorney General Kamala Harris is pestering Fannie Mae with stupid questions. Whether that opinion is enough justification for the government-sponsored enterprise to ignore her queries is to be determined.

E*Trade Financial Corp. and its insurers have agreed to pay $79 million to settle a class-action suit brought by investors over losses in its mortgage and home-equity loan portfolios.

The Justice Department late Wednesday announced that it has reached a $335 million settlement with Countrywide Financial Corp., now owned by Bank of America, in the largest fair lending action in history.

Democratic Rep. Brad Miller and Republican Rep. Walter Jones are sending a message to federal officials who will need to sign off on any settlement agreement reached between state attorneys general and mortgage servicers: do not release the servicers from any violations of a federal law that protects members of the military.

The U.S. Government Services Administration entered into a contract with eMASON that will allow federal agencies to purchase the mortgage technology vendor’s software at negotiated prices.

After reading bits and pieces of the Securities and Exchange Commission's complaint against the former heads of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac one thought comes to mind: what exactly is a subprime loan again?

Bank of America is close to settling a Justice Department probe into whether its Countrywide Financial Corp. unit violated fair-lending practices, according to a report from Bloomberg.

Daniel Mudd, the former Fannie Mae CEO who is the subject of a new, massive SEC fraud suit, announced Wednesday morning that he is taking a leave of absence from his current employer, Fortress Investment Group, New York.

It looks like Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller won't be getting his Christmas wish this year. Miller, who is leading the settlement talks with the top five mortgage servicers, said earlier this month that the settlement should be reached by the holiday.