Settlement talks between JPMorgan Chase and federal and state negotiators have reportedly focused on a possible $11 billion to resolve a string of investigations into the banks mortgage lending and securitization practices. The amount under negotiation has ballooned from JPMorgans initial offer of $3 billion to $4 billion, which negotiators rejected. The talks cover federal probes in Philadelphia, Washington and Sacramento. The Department of Justice, Department of Housing and Urban Development and New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who co-chairs a presidential task force investigating bank securitization deals, are involved...
With mortgage refinance activity flagging in the wake of a spike in interest rates that began months ago, the Federal Housing Finance Agency this week launched a campaign to get more mileage out of the Home Affordable Refinance Program. (Includes one data chart.)
The FHFAs HARP outreach effort includes public service announcements by Mike Aubrey, a real estate agent based in North Potomac, MD. He stars in a reality TV show, Power Broker, that premiered on HGTV in July
A federal district court judge in Manhattan this week rejected Wells Fargos plea to dismiss a lawsuit alleging it lied about the quality of home loans submitted to the Department of Housing and Urban Development for FHA insurance over a 10-year period. District Court Judge Jesse Furman allowed government claims under the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act of 1989 to proceed but ruled that legal injury claims based on events that transpired before June 2009 were time-barred and that the government had waited too long to file a lawsuit. The judge also threw out claims of negligence and unjust enrichment. The government filed...
Besides Citi, a handful of large depositories are in the midst of wrapping up sizable MSR auctions this week, including offerings from Wells Fargo and Flagstar Bancorp.