Law and legal issues

A pair of bills make it clear that stealing a homeowner's title is a crime, subject to a maximum prison term of 25 years.

Tax lien forfeitures have unjustly taken from thousands of homeowners a combined $860 million in remaining proceeds from foreclosure sales, attorneys claim.

In an amicus brief, the trade group voiced concern over a statement recently provided by government agencies in a lawsuit involving loanDepot.

Prosecutors claim every dollar in subsidy funds from settlements equates to ten times the amount in value in home lending efforts.

Only a few home lenders have moved to settle the legal claims, while many have denied wrongdoing.

A federal judge recently gave the go-ahead to the lawsuit from the larger company against its smaller competitor.

Omayra Ujaque faces up to 30 years imprisonment for each bank fraud count and must serve a mandatory two year sentence for aggravated identity theft.

Meanwhile, former employees of the failed lender claim to have reached a settlement with the company for three weeks of owed back pay.

The Premier Agent program regarding leads, scrutinized in the lawsuit, accounts for the majority of the company's annual revenue.

Both lenders are also parties to separate, ongoing poaching lawsuits.

But attorneys for the small Chicago-based mortgage company remained defiant and actually welcomed the Bureau's move.

Former employer NFM Lending filed a lawsuit claiming the pair breached their contracts by soliciting customers and co-workers at their new jobs.

The title insurer was the third of the big four companies to come to an agreement with New York Attorney General Letitia James in an ongoing investigation.

Convicted former MBA Chairman Ron McCord and his Oklahoma-based company settled CapLoc's allegations that they put fraudulent loans on a funding line.

The company's rejection of the plan cost the homeowners a competitive rate last year as interest rates soared, their attorney alleged.

The company asserts that a settlement in a different case already released the claims at issue related to representations made in the Home Affordable Modification Program.

A federal appeals court ruled in favor of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, setting up a court split ahead of a highly anticipated Supreme Court hearing in October. The Fifth Circuit previously ruled that the agency's funding mechanism violates the Constitution's separation of powers doctrine.

The lawsuit alleges the Pennsylvania-based lender also attempted to solicit and induce other franchisees to leave.

Former employees impacted by layoffs claim the Illinois-based lender did not give them a 60-day notice as required by the WARN Act.

The Ohio-based bank concentrated most of its lending branches in majority-white neighborhoods and did nothing to compensate for its lack of physical presence, the DOJ claims.