Now-Defunct 1st Alliance Lending is appealing a decision by the Connecticut Department of Banking regarding the lender’s alleged practice of allowing unlicensed employees to work with potential borrowers.

The guilty plea by Sterling Bank includes $27.2 million in restitution. The DOJ said any higher amount would have put the bank out of business.

HUD’s decision to reinstate its 2013 “discriminatory effects standard” could revive an old lawsuit brought against the agency by two trade groups.

The move signals an aggressive effort by federal regulators to rein in consolidation in the mortgage tech industry. ICE said it is prepared to fight the FTC over the Black Knight deal.

The Newark, OH-based bank was accused of redlining mortgage borrowers in majority-Black and Hispanic neighborhoods of the Columbus metropolitan area.

The GSEs’ endorsement of attorney opinion letters in lieu of title insurance has the title industry concerned.

The Supreme Court has agreed to take on the contentious issue of whether the CFPB’s funding is unconstitutional. Last year, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held the bureau’s funding structure violated the Constitution’s appropriation clause and separation of powers doctrine.

RMK Financial/Majestic Home Loans has been permanently banned from the mortgage business for violating terms of an earlier consent order in which the lender agreed to cease its deceptive advertising practices.

The license for the new mortgage lending company of Michael Strauss, the former president of now-shuttered Sprout Mortgage, has been suspended by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.

Rocket Pro TPO is offering to compensate brokers trying to break free from market leader United Wholesale Mortgage, whose contracts prevent independents from doing business with two rival table-funders.