Rep. Jeff Miller, R-FL, chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, reportedly has instructed his staff to start looking into allegations that a number of mortgage lending institutions charged illegal fees to veterans who refinanced their homes. Committee staff members reportedly met with Department of Veterans Affairs officials to discuss the allegations, which were made public earlier this month by a federal court in Atlanta. “I will reserve judgment on the appropriate next course of action, to include the potential for a full Committee hearing, after having the opportunity to review the results of the staff investigation,” Miller said in a letter to Rep. Bruce Braley of Iowa, the ranking Democrat on the committee’s subcommittee on economic opportunity.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has issued the first iteration of its supervision and examination manual, along with its examination procedures for mortgage servicing, in part so that financial services providers know what to expect during their examinations. The first section of the manual describes the CFPB’s compliance supervision and examination process. The second part outlines the bureau's examination procedures, including both general instructions and procedures for determining compliance with specific regulations. The final section provides templates for reporting risk assessments, examination results and supervision plans.

The Supreme Court of the United States will settle a multi-district circuit court conflict that will likely determine the ability of the mortgage lending industry to determine on its own what to charge borrowers at the point of origination. In deciding earlier this month to accept Freeman v. Quicken Loans Inc., the high court will confront the question of whether a plaintiff must demonstrate an unearned fee for a real estate settlement service was divided between two or more persons in order to establish that a violation of Section 8(b) of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act occurred.

Endorsements of Home Equity Conversion Mortgage loans during the first six months of 2011 rose 0.4 percent above the rate of endorsements from a year earlier but fell 20.2 percent on a quarterly basis, according to Inside FHA Lending’s analysis of HECM activity during the first six months of 2011. At the mid-year mark, HECM endorsements totaled $9.5 billion, with third-party originators sponsored by FHA-approved lenders accounting for 40.4 percent of all HECM originations. Non-FHA-approved mortgage brokers are no longer allowed to originate HECMs under a policy change last year aimed at reducing FHA losses and risks to the FHA Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund. HECM endorsements totaled ... [includes two (2) data charts]

The departure of MetLife Bank, a division of insurer MetLife Inc., from the mortgage business will leave a gap in the FHA market that should not be hard to fill. The bank recently announced its intention to sell its mortgage business due to uncertainty in the marketplace and the rising cost of compliance in an excessively burdensome regulatory environment. It is getting too difficult to compete and be profitable under these conditions, the bank said in a statement. MetLife Bank’s mortgage-related woes reflected on its FHA origination volume and market share, both of which have been shrinking over the last couple of quarters. MetLife ranked fourth among ...

The Senate voted this week to reinstate the higher conforming loan limit that expired at the end of September, heeding calls by the real estate and mortgage industries. On a vote of 60-38, lawmakers passed an amendment to the FY2012 funding bill, S. 1596, for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which, among other things, would raise the maximum loan amount that can be guaranteed by FHA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Introduced by Sen. Robert Menendez, D-NJ, the amendment restores the 125 percent median home price formula used to calculate the temporary higher loan limits in effect prior to Oct. 1, which was up to $729,750 in certain high-cost areas of the country and lower in other jurisdictions. After Oct. 1, the new loan limit calculation was ...

President Obama has announced Carol Galante as his pick for Assistant Secretary for Housing and FHA Commissioner at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Galante has occupied the two posts in an acting capacity since July 12, when she replaced Robert Ryan. Ryan temporarily assumed both jobs after former HUD Assistant Secretary for Housing and FHA Commissioner David Stevens left HUD at the end of March 2011 to join the Mortgage Bankers Association as its new president and CEO. Prior to her current post, Galante served as HUD deputy assistant secretary for multifamily programs. In addition, Galante, a licensed real estate broker, has been a leader of major administration initiatives, including ...

Smaller issuers of Ginnie Mae mortgage-backed securities will find it easier to pledge mortgage servicing rights (MSRs) to obtain warehouse financing and better compete with their larger rivals, thanks to changes announced recently by Ginnie Mae. Changes to the “Acknowledgment Agreement” will make it simpler for Ginnie Mae to honor servicing pledges and allow the transfer of related servicing rights. They also clarify and limit the conditions under which Ginnie Mae can deny an issuer’s request to transfer servicing to the issuer’s creditor. Under the previous 2007 procedures, an issuer seeking Ginnie Mae’s approval to pledge its rights to servicing income as a security for a loan from a private lender must ...

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has suspended a former president of Lend America from doing any business with the agency following his admission that he engaged in a mortgage fraud scheme against the FHA in 2009. Michael Primeau, the former executive, had pled guilty to charges he directed employees of Lend America, a former FHA-approved lender, to divert mortgage funds intended to pay off borrowers’ first mortgages at refinance closings in order to pay company-operating expenses. Two years ago, HUD and the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York filed a civil complaint against Ideal Mortgage Bankers, doing business as Lend America, in federal district court. The complaint sought ...

The Department of Housing and Urban Development is a step closer to leveling the playing field for FHA lenders but there is more to be done, according to a recent analysis by K&L Gates. Recent changes announced by HUD are a good start to setting right the unintended adverse effects of last year’s changes to FHA’s lender-approval requirements, but HUD needs to do more to implement these changes fully, concludes the analysis. Authors Krista Cooley, Holly Spencer Bunting and Kathryn Baugher, all attorneys with K&L Gates, said future pronouncements from HUD should provide additional guidance on how to address the inequities between third-party originators and FHA-approved lenders with regards to ...