The Mortgage Review Board reported approximately $454.4 million in settlements against 25 FHA lenders for various violations of agency lending requirements and imposed more than $1.8 million fines and other penalties against 253 lenders for annual recertification violations. The settlements and penalties resulted from administrative actions taken by the board against FHA lenders from Oct. 1, 2015, through Sept. 30, 2016. The settlements did not constitute an admission of liability or fault. The largest settlement amount, $113 million, was between Freedom Mortgage of Mount Laurel, NJ, and the Department of Justice to resolve alleged violations of FHA requirements and the False Claims Act. In August last year, the MRB voted to release Freedom from any civil money penalties or administrative actions as part of the lender’s settlement with the DOJ. The largest civil money penalty imposed by the ...