M&T Bank is in talks with the federal government to resolve an investigation of a pre-crisis sale of FHA-insured and conforming mortgages to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that resulted in losses for the government-sponsored enterprises. The New York-based bank disclosed the settlement discussion in a second-quarter filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission and is cooperating with the investigation. The Department of Justice and the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Inspector General are investigating whether M&T Bank complied with FHA’s underwriting guidelines as well as with guidelines for selling loans to Fannie and Freddie. It is unclear how much the FHA paid out in loss claims in this case but investigators said that, based upon their review of a sample of FHA loans for which a claim was paid, “some of the loans do not meet underwriting guidelines.” M&T Bank could be ...
A growing number of issuers are engaging in servicing transfers prematurely or making changes to their servicing platforms, causing problems for Ginnie Mae’s monthly pool-level and loan-level reporting. A Ginnie Mae issuer “transfers servicing” when it shifts in-house servicing to a subservicer, moves servicing from one subservicer to another, or relocates servicing in-house. Effective servicing as well as accurate and timely reporting are critical to Ginnie’s mortgage-backed securities program, the company said in recently issued guidance on servicing transfers. The new policy guidance would ensure that issuers have the capacity and oversight controls at all times to meet their obligations under the Ginnie Mae MBS program. Currently, issuers are required to obtain Ginnie’s approval before engaging in any servicing transfer with a subservicer or from one subservicer to another. Effective immediately, any issuer that wishes to ...
A California federal district court’s recent decision to reject fair housing claims related to FHA loans brought by the City of Los Angeles against Wells Fargo relied heavily on the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision on disparate impact, according to legal experts. Specifically, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California granted summary judgment for Wells Fargo in a Fair Housing Act case brought by the City of L.A. The suit alleged that the bank’s mortgage lending practices had a disparate impact on minority borrowers, which resulted in a disparate number of foreclosures in minority areas. Wells Fargo was accused of reverse redlining since at least 2004 by imposing different terms or conditions on minority borrowers. The suit further alleged that Wells Fargo originated eight types of “predatory” home loans targeted to minorities. These loans include “high-cost” loans, subprime loans, interest-only loans, ...
Starting in June 2016, FHA lenders will find delivering origination appraisals will be faster when the agency’s Electronic Appraisal Delivery (EAD) portal becomes fully operational. The FHA will soon begin registration of EAD portal users so that lenders can select their implementation schedule. By using the portal, FHA lenders will find it less cumbersome to do business with the FHA, minimize appraisal errors and reduce post-endorsement corrections of appraisals, the agency said. The EAD portal is a web-based platform that will allow FHA lenders and their third-party service providers to transmit single-family appraisal data and deliver appraisal reports prior to endorsement of a loan for mortgage insurance. Delivery of appraisals via the EAD portal becomes mandatory for all case numbers assigned on or after June 27, 2016. Lenders may use the phase-in implementation period to familiarize themselves and train in the ...
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Housing Service has delayed the implementation of the revised document upload process for guaranteed single-family home loans. The changes to the document-uploading component in the RHS Guaranteed Underwriting System (GUS) will be implemented on Aug. 26, not Aug. 12 as initially planned, to ease current restrictions on RHS’ document upload. However, an application must first be established before uploading any document into GUS. This can be done by completing the first three pages of a GUS application. Previously, users were not allowed to upload documents into GUS until a final submission had successfully processed. In addition, before the changes to the document uploading process, only users with a security designation that included “final submit authority” were allowed to upload documents. The revised system now allows users with a security designation of ...
A Miami FHA lender and two of his associates plead guilty to a mortgage fraud scheme that cost the FHA approximately $64 million in losses. Hector Hernandez, owner of Great Country Mortgage Bankers and a real estate developer, and his business partner Aleida Fontao each pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Olga Hernandez, an underwriter for Great Country, confessed to falsifying information in borrowers’ loan applications to make them appear qualified. According to the DOJ, Great Country was a direct endorsement lender that made loans to first-time homebuyers and borrowers with imperfect credit and low credit cores. Hernandez and Fontao admitted to pressuring their loan officers to approve and close loans based on fraudulent income and employment information. Borrower credit histories were altered to make them look good. The senior underwriter admitted to providing false information to her co-workers and endorsing borrowers’ applications despite knowing that they did not qualify for the loans.
HUD Proposes to Clarify Participation of Religious Organizations in Agency Programs. The Department of Housing and Urban Development has proposed a rule that would amend current rules regarding equal participation of faith-based organizations in HUD programs. The amendments implement a 2010 presidential directive, which clarified that religious providers may compete for federal funding without losing their religious identity. The directive also provided protections for program beneficiaries, including a referral process for those opposed to religious groups that operate federally funded programs. The public has 60 days from the date of publication in the Federal Register to comment on the proposed changes. NMI Holdings Turn Profitable. NMI Holdings, parent company of National Mortgage Insurance, appears to be turning the corner toward profitability as the changes implemented by ...
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