Enforcement

Michael Gramins, who a jury convicted in 2017, was among more than a half-dozen traders charged by federal prosecutors in Connecticut with misrepresenting the prices of mortgage-backed securities to clients in order to increase their firm’s profits and their bonuses.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has taken a hands-off approach to servicers during the pandemic. But with forbearance plans set to expire and President-elect Biden likely to appoint new CFPB leadership, companies lacking aggressive plans to help borrowers could face tougher enforcement.

The three companies agreed to pay a total of $74 million in remediation.

A Boulder, Colo., man was sentenced to five years in prison after using information obtained through legitimate transactions to create and sell almost $32 million of fraudulent loan packages to a bank.

The agency’s final rule modernizing the Fair Debt Collection Practice Act limits calls to seven per week, but collectors won stronger protections from liability claims and other key changes to the original proposal.

The scheme targeted distressed homeowners in the Filipino community, most of whom were nonnative English speakers, forcing some of them into bankruptcy and homelessness, according to law enforcement officials.

The final consent order contained the largest penalty, for $1.8 million to be paid by Low VA Rates. In total, the CFPB has issued $4.4 million in fines for such marketing of VA loans.

The agency’s consolidation of supervision and enforcement policy into one office could compromise the independence of those deciding when to investigate alleged wrongdoing by banks and others, critics of the move say.

If the underwriters' option is exercised, proceeds will bring in $112 million instead of a possible $176 million.

The agency had raised concerns in the Obama administration about kickbacks in the marketing pacts between mortgage lenders and other providers, but the agency's recent guidance says the deals are legally viable.

Customers suffered when they were placed in mortgage relief plans without their consent, the Massachusetts senator says. She urged the Federal Reserve to take the blunder into account as it weighs when to lift other sanctions against the bank.

A Quincy, Mass., real estate broker pleaded not guilty to nine charges, including money laundering and forgery, for what prosecutors say is the theft of $800,000 from deposit checks.

The former attorney general for the state went her own way on the national servicing settlement, but critics claim she let OneWest off easy.

A proposal to expand consumer protections in the state was added to a budget bill after being dropped in June. Financial institutions say the measure conflicts with federal law and are working behind the scenes to stop it.

Citing possible exploitation, Bank of America instituted a policy that put limits on loans to persons in guardianship. It later ended the policy.

The consumer agency alleges Townstone Financial's CEO and president made statements on a radio show discouraging applicants living in Black neighborhoods from seeking home loans.

The court struck down a 2015 update to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, which permitted robocalls to cellphones for government-related debt collection.

An Idaho court has ruled against a Treasure Valley resident for his role in a Ponzi scheme that bilked millions from real estate investors.

A former Hillsborough County, Fla., mortgage broker has been sentenced to 15 months in federal prison for his role in a scam to which banks lost more than $5 million.

A federal grand jury indicted Ronald J. McCord, 69, of Oklahoma City, on charges of defrauding two banks, Fannie Mae, and others of millions of dollars, money laundering, and making a false statement to a financial institution, said Timothy J. Downing, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma.