Compliance

Put-backs of defective mortgages are accelerating and the Federal Reserve Board is growing more concerned about the potential risks to the banking system.

The Federal Trade Commission has issued a new rule banning the collection of fees by mortgage loan modification and other foreclosure rescue service providers until homeowners receive a written offer from their lender or servicer “that they decide is acceptable”.

BankAtlantic Bancorp Inc., Fort Lauderdale, Fla., has been ordered by a jury to pay $2.41 per share to common stockholders in a class action lawsuit filed after the company's earnings were battered by problems with real estate.

An updated CoreLogic Mortgage Fraud Trends Report finds that while overall mortgage fraud has increased by 20% since fraud hit its lowest level in 2009, refinance fraud saw an even higher increase of 30%.

In their first week back since the midterm elections, lawmakers are taking up the robo-signing scandal in multiple venues.

On Nov 5, ARTHUR GONZALES DIAZ, an Anaheim resident was arraigned on seven felony counts of grand theft and one misdemeanor count of engaging in business as a real estate broker without a license. He is accused of targeting and defrauding Hispanic victims of more than $87,000 in bogus real estate deals. Diaz faces a maximum sentence of eight years in state prison.

Flagstar Bank has closed on the sale of a $474 million portfolio of non-insured non-performing residential first mortgages.

The government is proceeding with a vengeance in this attorney's opinion to prosecute fraud and to recover money where failed banks still had loans in their portfolio at the time of the failure. The FDIC “letters of inquiry,” subpoenas and lawsuits are just starting and I believe will escalate. The reason for this belief? The government is using private law firms for the most part in chasing the problems. You will note the letters indicate the delegation of authority if you have received one.

A Grapevine user discusses a particular loan scenario where a mother wants to save her daughter from going into foreclosure. Find out more here.…

A New Jersey woman has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with her operation of a $45 million Ponzi scheme that fraudulently solicited investments in real estate from more than 20 New York and New Jersey investors, according to Preet Bharara, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.

Three people, including a local attorney, have been indicted for allegedly operating a foreclosure rescue scam in Las Vegas during 2008 and 2009.

Selling any big-ticket item involves three steps: getting prospects to hear a pitch, demonstrating the item’s attractiveness and making the argument that it’s worth the price—even when the product is an antibank lawsuit.

A study from Demographia, a St. Louis public policy consulting firm, finds land use regulations have driven costs in some major metropolitan markets so high that new housing has become unaffordable for consumers despite low interest rates, a study from Demographia, a St. Louis-based public policy consulting firm, claims.

Former directors of WesCorp Federal Credit Union on Tuesday urged a federal court to dismiss a civil suit brought against them by NCUA, saying federal regulators were well aware of what the $34 billion-asset corporate CU was up to with its MBS purchases.

First Horizon National Corp. of Memphis late Monday disclosed that it has been subpoenaed by the Federal Housing Finance Agency because of six securitizations involving Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development proposed new regulations to force certain lenders to indemnify or reimburse the Federal Housing Administration for insurance claims paid on mortgages that are found not to meet the agency's guidelines. In addition, HUD's proposed rule would require all new and existing lenders with the ability to insure mortgages on HUD's behalf to meet stricter performance standards to gain and maintain their approval status.

Is there a limit to the maximum number of properties a borrower can finance? What happens when a borrower is trying to refinance his primary residence and has seven mortgages in total on his home and other properties? Find out more here.

Be prepared for Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration to come out with their own loan quality initiatives, said the head of SigniaDocs at the Mortgage Bankers Association’s annual convention in Atlanta.

The Work Number, a service of Equifax, and a source for employment, income and deposit verifications, has launched two new automated products: AuditChek and AccountChek.

A handful of state attorneys general are taking a hard line with mortgage servicers by demanding loan modifications and principal reductions for those borrowers whose rights may have been violated by robo-signing.