The House Appropriations Committee, in a politically charged move, has approved a $19.9 billion spending bill that will affect regulators and the implementation of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Among the visible implications of the budget package, which is almost $2 billion (9 percent) below last year’s funding level and almost $6 billion below President Obama’s FY2012 request – is a double move on the controversial Consumer Financial Protection Bureau…
Under a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission, a federal court has banned First Universal Lending and its three owners, Sean Zausner, David Zausner and David Feingold, an attorney in Palm Beach Gardens, FL, from the mortgage modification business and ordered them to pay almost $19 million for consumer refunds. The defendants allegedly deceived distressed homeowners with phony claims that they would negotiate with their respective lenders to modify their mortgages and make them more affordable ...
If you make your living originating residential mortgages, you’re going to have to be licensed either by the state or by the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry under the federal Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act, otherwise known as the SAFE Act, under a new final rule from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. …
The Department of Housing and Urban Development is conducting an in-depth review of mortgage lenders, including those that pose the highest risk, in anticipation of a drastic reduction in the number of FHA lenders because of recent FHA reform measures. Responding to a recent report by the HUD Office of the Inspector General on the FHA lender recertification process, HUD said its Lender Approval and Recertification Division has begun manual reviews of 200 FHA-approved lenders that could potentially spell trouble for the agency. The more detailed reviews are part of HUD’s implementation of a final lender-related rule issued in June last year. The rule increased...
All banks under the supervision of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency that engage in mortgage servicing must review their practices and make sure they are complying with foreclosure laws, conducting foreclosures in a safe and sound manner, and establishing responsible business practices that provide accountability and appropriate treatment of borrowers, the OCC said. …
Florida. Gov. Rick Scott (R) has signed H.B. 951, which ratifies the validity of electronic documents submitted to and accepted by a court clerk or county recorder for recordation, whether or not those documents complied with applicable e-document-related laws and regulations at the time. Louisiana. Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) has signed H.B. 492, which exempts from the mortgage loan originator licensing requirement set forth under the Louisiana Residential Mortgage Lending Act certain individuals…
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Integrated Mortgage Disclosure Project. The CFPB has issued a second set of mortgage disclosure prototypes for public review and comment, with a particular emphasis on borrower payments or fees necessary to close a mortgage. In the first set, the back page was identical on both versions, but the “shopping sheet” front page was different. In the second set, the first page is the same on both versions, with substantial differences…
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network reported that mortgage fraud related suspicious activity reports rose 31 percent to 25,485 in the first quarter of the year, due to mortgage lenders conducting more reviews after receiving demands to repurchase poorly performing mortgages. Treasury Under Secretary for Domestic Finance Jeffrey Goldstein is leaving the department as of the end of July. He has been one of President Obama’s go-to guys when it comes to rehabbing the financial…
Two U.S. senators and their staffs are working with the Department of Housing and Urban Development to ensure that FHA policies regarding interest charges protect borrowers. Sens. Ben Cardin, D-MD, and Johnny Isakson, R-GA, and HUD are trying to resolve an existing FHA policy that allows lenders to charge interest on a mortgage loan through the end of the month, even if the borrower pays the loan off earlier in the month. The policy apparently aligns with Ginnie Mae’s guarantee to securities holders of a full month’s interest on a securitized FHA loan even if that loan is paid in full at the beginning of the month. Only the FHA has this sort of...
The Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act of 2008 covers loan originators working for entities that originate FHA or VA mortgage loans, according to a final rule issued by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Under the long-anticipated rule on state compliance with the SAFE Act, HUD clarified that even though the FHA and VA programs were created by federal statute and governed by federal regulations, the loans they insure or guarantee are originated for profit. Since FHA and VA loans are originated in the “commercial context,” the loan originators (LOs) are generally subject to the requirements of...
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