Compliance

AllRegs, an information provider for the mortgage lending industry, has announced that its Ask the Expert--Legal Content Support Services will be offered through Smith Dollar PC, a mortgage banking law firm based in Santa Rosa, Calif. Eligible AllRegs subscribers will have unlimited access to Smith Dollar attorneys who can offer clarification on federal and state laws and regulations that reside in AllRegs' Information Service, AllRegs said. Smith Dollar is a California law firm that represents lenders and secondary-market investors in matters relating to mortgage fraud, lender liability, and regulatory compliance. AllRegs said Legal Content Support Service was created to help mortgage companies clarify the numerous changes in federal, state, and other regulations that affect the mortgage business.

Only 15 counties in California will qualify for the maximum $729,750 loan limit under the economic stimulus bill that temporarily increases loan limits for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Housing Administration, according to an FHA official. This translates into six to nine metropolitan statistical areas in the lower 48 states where Fannie, Freddie, and FHA lenders will be able to make a $729,750 jumbo loan, one expert said. FHA Director Joanne Kuczma said HUD should be ready to issue guidance on the MSAs affected by the stimulus bill in a few weeks. The mortgagee letter has been crafted, and now it needs to be cleared by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, she told the finance committee of the National Association of Home Builders. The stimulus bill increases the Fannie and Freddie loan limit from a floor of $417,000 to 125% of median home prices in high-cost areas, with a cap of $729,750. The NAHB said it expects this to increase the GSE loan limit in 29 MSAs. Meanwhile, the floor for FHA loans rises from $200,160 to $271,050. Nearly 85% of counties will have a 125% median house price that falls between $271,050 and $729,750, the FHA director said. HUD generally sets the MSA loan limit based on the highest-priced county.

In an effort to warn more delinquent borrowers about a widespread form of foreclosure fraud, Freddie Mac has re-edited the custom-made video it posted to YouTube for Spanish-speaking homeowners. The new Spanish language version of Freddie Mac's anti- fraud video can be found at http://www.youtube.com/AvoidFraud. Like the English-language Internet video Freddie Mac produced and posted in 2007, the Spanish language version uses professional actors to demonstrate how con artists can get copies of foreclosure notices at City Hall or a county courthouse, persuade distressed borrowers to give up the deeds in exchange for suspicious promises to solve their financial problems, use the deeds to secure new loans for themselves and let the new loans go into foreclosure, which means the homeowners looking for help end up losing their house. Freddie Mac decided to produce the anti-fraud videos when a new survey of delinquent borrowers found 25% going to the Internet first for information about managing their mortgages and avoiding foreclosure.

In an effort to warn more delinquent borrowers about a widespread form of foreclosure fraud, Freddie Mac has re-edited the custom-made video it posted to YouTube for Spanish-speaking homeowners. The new Spanish language version of Freddie Mac's anti- fraud video can be found at http://www.youtube.com/AvoidFraud. Like the English-language Internet video Freddie Mac produced and posted in 2007, the Spanish language version uses professional actors to demonstrate how con artists can get copies of foreclosure notices at City Hall or a county courthouse, persuade distressed borrowers to give up the deeds in exchange for suspicious promises to solve their financial problems, use the deeds to secure new loans for themselves and let the new loans go into foreclosure, which means the homeowners looking for help end up losing their house. Freddie Mac decided to produce the anti-fraud videos when a new survey of delinquent borrowers found 25% going to the Internet first for information about managing their mortgages and avoiding foreclosure.

Ryland Homes has agreed to implement a substantial portion of a shareholder proposal by a LIUNA pension fund requiring better disclosure of the homebuilder's mortgage risk. LIUNA -- the Laborers' International Union of North America -- said it filed the proposal as part of an initiative to help restore confidence in the housing industry. The Ryland proposal, filed by the Indiana State District Council of Laborers and HOD Carriers Pension Fund, sought regular reporting of the types of mortgages originated so investors can identify the level of exposure to prime, subprime, and alternative-A loans. The proposal also sought reporting on sales of those mortgages, including identification of buyers and terms. "We applaud Ryland for taking this action and call upon other homebuilders and mortgage originators to enact the provisions of our proposal," LIUNA general president Terence M. O'Sullivan said. "We believe restoring confidence to the industry must be multipronged and include responsible shareholder proposals, legislative action, and self-regulation by homebuilders, lenders, and credit rating agencies." LIUNA can be found online at http://www.liuna.org.

The Hope Now initiative might help 250,000 subprime borrowers avoid foreclosure, but another 2 million homeowners are likely to lose their homes over the next 24 months if they can't petition the bankruptcy courts for relief, according to economist Mark Zandi."While the Hope Now initiative is laudable, it should not forestall passage of H.R. 3609 to provide hard-pressed homeowners facing foreclosure more protection in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy," the chief economist at Moody's Economy.com told a House Judiciary panel. Former Housing Secretary Jack Kemp also testified in favor of the bill, which would allow bankruptcy judges to reduce the interest rate and principal amount of a residential mortgage. But the Mortgage Bankers Association warned that passage of the bankruptcy bill could destabilize the mortgage market. "This would have an immediate and severe impact on the mortgage market as companies book the diminished value of their loans and servicing rights," MBA chairman-elect David Kittle said.

Countrywide Financial Corp., Calabasas, Calif., said Wednesday that it has been subpoenaed by the Florida attorney general's office, which is looking into its foreclosure practices, among other things. Florida joins several other states, including Illinois and Pennsylvania, that are reviewing allegations that the nation's largest lender/servicer charged excessive fees in regard to foreclosures and used high-pressure sales tactics in pushing payment-option adjustable-rate mortgages. Countrywide can be found on the Web at http://www.countrywide.com.

Financial institutions filed a record 15,000 suspicious activity reports (including instances of mortgage fraud) with the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the first fiscal quarter of this year. If the pace keeps up, more than 60,000 SARs will be filed, outstripping 2007, when 46,717 reports hit the system. In a briefing on Jan. 29, FBI officials said the agency has 14 major "corporate fraud" investigations under way involving mortgage or related companies. The focus, officials said, was on subprime firms, their accounting and lending practices, and insider trading. The agency did not specify any cases, but it is well known that the collapse of New Century Financial Corp. of Irvine, Calif., is the subject of a major probe. As previously reported, the Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating the failure of several subprime firms, focusing on -- among other things -- their investment bankers, including Bear Stearns, Merrill Lynch, and Morgan Stanley.

The House, in a 383-35 vote, has passed an economic stimulus bill that temporarily increases the loan limits for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Housing Administration. The stimulus bill (H.R. 5140) raises the loan limits to 125% of median area home prices in high-cost areas, with a $729,750 cap, and it is expected to increase home sales and help stabilize real estate markets. Raising the loan limits for Fannie and Freddie could generate 300,000 additional home sales, reduce the inventory of unsold homes, strengthen home prices, and help 210,000 families avoid foreclosure, according to the National Association of Realtors. "Simply lifting the loan limit will have an immediate impact on lessening foreclosures," NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun told reporters. Preliminary estimates also indicate that raising the FHA loan limit could generate 200,000 to 250,000 additional home sales and 500,000 refinancings. It would also reduce foreclosures, the association said, but NAR economists have not completed that analysis. The Senate is expected to pass its own stimulus bill by Feb. 1. The association can be found online at http://www.realtor.org.

The Core Mortgage Risk Index increased 9.0% in the first quarter, reflecting the pressures of rising delinquency and foreclosure rates, flat or declining price appreciation, and slower job growth, according to First American CoreLogic, Sacramento, Calif. Among the largest 100 markets in the country, CoreLogic said the five with the highest risk are: Bakersfield, Calif.; Stockton, Calif.; Fresno, Calif.; Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich.; and Grand Rapids-Wyoming, Mich. "While Michigan markets overall are not as highly ranked as they were in the past, it is not because the risk has declined or even stabilized, but rather that California markets are deteriorating at a faster rate," the company reported. CoreLogic, a provider of mortgage risk assessment and fraud prevention systems, can be found on the Web at http://www.corelogic.com.

House leaders have decided to leave Federal Housing Administration reform provisions out of an economic stimulus bill, but the package will include a temporary increase in the FHA loan limits, according to sources. House and Senate banking committee leaders wanted to include FHA reforms in the $150 billion stimulus package, but Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson raised objections. The Bush administration supports quick passage of an FHA reform bill, but "it should be on a separate track," a Treasury spokeswoman said. It appears that the stimulus bill would raise the loan limits for FHA and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in high-cost areas to 125% of median area home prices, with a $729,750 cap. This temporary increase would expire at year's end.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will be able to securitize jumbo mortgages originated between July 1, 2007, and the end of this year under the economic stimulus package that the House of Representatives was expected to pass Tuesday afternoon. The stimulus bill (H.R. 5140) temporarily raises the GSE conforming loan limit to 125% of median area home prices in high-cost areas, with a $729,750 cap. H.R. 5140 also includes "sense of Congress" language that encourages the government-sponsored enterprises to securitize the jumbo mortgages -- but leaves it up to Fannie and Freddie to decide the best execution. Fannie Mae president and chief executive Daniel Mudd told Bloomberg News that his preference is to securitize the loans. "That is a good business for us," he said. "It is not capital-intensive. But there may be instances where it makes sense to put them on the balance sheet." The stimulus bill also temporarily raises the loan limits for Federal Housing Administration loans in high-cost areas.

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has granted Clayton Holdings immunity in exchange for providing information on its due diligence work for Wall Street firms that securitized subprime mortgages. The publicly traded company says it has provided due diligence reports to the New York AG since it was first subpoenaed in June. "Now, at the request of the New York attorney general, we have entered into a cooperative agreement with his office," said Frank Filipps, Clayton's chairman and chief executive. The New York Times first reported the immunity agreement. The New York attorney general's office has not replied to requests for confirmation. Clayton performs due diligence on loans purchased by conduits, and identifies "exceptions" to the issuers' loan guidelines. The Shelton, Conn.-based company also evaluates the performance of loans once they are securitized. A company executive said the percentage of loans securitized in 2006 that had exceptions was about 30%.

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher J. Dodd, D-Conn., has pledged to act on a GSE reform bill this year in an effort to get the White House to accept a temporary increase in the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loan limit that is going to be inserted in the economic stimulus package. Sen. Dodd met with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson Friday morning to discuss strengthening the regulation of the two government-sponsored enterprises. "I wanted the secretary to know I am going to get a GSE bill done," Sen. Dodd told reporters. The Treasury secretary has let it be known that he is unhappy with the one-year increase in the loan limit that House Democratic and Republican leaders insisted on. He has always insisted that an increase should be tied to passage of a comprehensive GSE reform bill. Meanwhile, Republicans claim they agreed to increase the GSE loan limit from $417,000 to $625,000. But in marking up the stimulus bill, Democrats plan to raise the GSE loan limit to 125% of median area home prices in 12 high-cost metropolitan statistical areas, with a $729,750 cap.

Arguing that Congress needs to do something about the "foreclosure crisis," Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher J. Dodd, D-Conn., says he wants to attach a Federal Housing Administration reform bill and an increase in the GSE loan limit to the economic stimulus package Congress and the White House are working on. Sen. Dodd said he will be meeting with House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., to discuss how the House and Senate FHA bills can be reconciled quickly and attached to the stimulus package. "I want to send a bill to the president as soon as possible," Sen. Dodd told reporters. The Connecticut senator also said he supports a temporary increase in the loan limits for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac so the two government-sponsored enterprises can bring liquidity to the jumbo market. But he did not sound optimistic that that would be possible. The chairman also served notice that he has "concerns" about the House-passed GSE regulatory reform bill and that some changes are needed to get the bill through his committee. "I want a strong regulator," he said. "But I am not going to gut the GSEs. It is not going to happen on my watch."

The California economy is being strangled by limited access to mortgage credit, according to California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who wants Congress to raise the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac lending limit from $417,000 to $625,000 as part of an economic stimulus package. "Raising these limits would do more than anything else to pump badly needed credit back into the housing market and revive our economy," Gov. Schwarzenegger says in a letter to House and Senate leaders. More than 50% of California's housing stock is priced above the current GSE loan limit of $417,000. "When combined with the withdrawal of the jumbo loan market, it's no surprise that current home sales activity in California is half the pace seen in 2006," the governor said. The former movie star also pointed out that raising the loan limit for the government-sponsored enterprises automatically raises the limit on loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration or guaranteed by the Department of Veterans Affairs. "Nothing will more beneficially improve the United States economy than immediately raising these limits," he said. California Realtors, builders, mortgage bankers, and brokers are also urging Congress to raise the GSE loan limit to $625,000 as part of a stimulus package.

The Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco has received a regulatory waiver to start making grants of up to $25,000 to help low- and moderate-income homeowners refinance out of nontraditional and subprime mortgages and into a fixed-rate 30-year mortgage. FHLBank member banks and thrifts have to put up $2 for every $1 in grant money to participate in the new affordable housing pilot program. The $2 match is to ensure that members take a loss when the principal amount of an underwater mortgage is written down to meet a 97% loan-to-value ratio requirement for the new mortgage. In approving the grant program, Federal Housing Finance Board members stressed that they want the pilot program to provide sustainable mortgages for the borrowers who cannot afford the resets on their current adjustable mortgages. And they don't want the program used to "bail out" lenders that made bad loans. Other FHLBanks are expected to seek similar waivers, and the Finance Board plans to issue an interim rule for public comment.

The city of Cleveland has sued 21 lenders and Wall Street firms involved in the subprime mortgage market, seeking monetary damages under a "public nuisance law." The litigation is the latest in a series of municipal actions targeting lenders. The Cleveland lawsuit alleges that the lenders "financed and cultivated" the subprime market, leading to a foreclosure crisis that has proved costly for the city. Bank of America, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, J.P. Morgan Chase, Merrill Lynch, Bear Stearns, Ameriquest, Washington Mutual, Countrywide Financial Corp., Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo, Fremont General Corp., GMAC-RFC, Goldman Sachs, Greenwich Capital Markets, HSBC Holdings, IndyMac Bancorp, Lehman Brothers, NovaStar Financial, and Option One Mortgage were all named as defendants in the lawsuit.

The city of Baltimore has filed a fair-lending lawsuit against Wells Fargo Bank NA, contending that the San Francisco-based bank's subprime lending practices have led to high foreclosure rates in minority neighborhoods and cost the city millions of dollars in expenses and lost revenues. The city alleges that Wells Fargo targets African-American neighborhoods with high-cost loans, resulting in an 8.2% foreclosure rate, compared with a 2.1% foreclosure rate in predominantly white neighborhoods. "Wells Fargo has caused these foreclosures by targeting Baltimore's African-American neighborhoods for irresponsible and abusive subprime lending practices designed to maximize short-term profits for the bank," Mayor Sheila Dixon said. A Wells Fargo spokesman said its loan pricing is based on risk. "Race is not a factor in our pricing," he said. City attorneys are asking a U.S. district court to enjoin Wells Fargo from engaging in certain lending practices and to award compensatory and punitive damages. The city has retained Relman & Dane, a civil rights law firm in Washington, to work on the case.

MBIA Inc., Armonk, N.Y., has sought to stave off negative rating pressure related to its mortgage-related asset-backed securities insurance exposure with a $1 billion surplus note offering and by cutting its dividend. Combined news reports also indicate that MBIA is facing inquiries by federal securities and state insurance regulators related to the company's reports to investors about its mortgage-related risks. The company reaffirmed previous estimates for the fourth quarter indicating that it will take a $737 million loss for the period that is "principally related" to "insured securitizations of prime home equity lines of credit and prime closed-end second-lien mortgages."