Good judicial fortune turned against Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems recently in a foreclosure-related case in Oregon despite previous positive precedence. In Hooker v. Northwest Trustee Services, the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon granted the plaintiff's request for a declaratory judgment that defendants MERS, Bank of America and Northwest Trustee Services as successor trustee violated...

Illinois. A federal grand jury has indicted three partners in a failed Chicago North Shore development project, a title company executive and a loan officer for allegedly engaging in a $15.7 million residential mortgage and construction loan fraud scheme to help finance the failed mixed-use commercial development known as the Center of the Northshore. The government accuses

Office of the Comptroller of the CurrencyFederal Reserve SystemFederal Deposit Insurance Corp.Securities and Exchange CommissionFederal Housing Finance AgencyDepartment of Housing and Urban Development Credit Risk Retention – Proposed Rule: Comments Due. Public comments on the interagency proposed rule on credit risk retention are due June 10, 2011. (See...

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority last week fined Credit Suisse Securities and Merrill Lynch for alleged misrepresentation of delinquency data and inadequate supervision of subprime residential MBS that ended up misleading investors about the performance of pool assets. “FINRA found that in 2006, Credit Suisse misrepresented the historical delinquency rates for 21 subprime RMBS it underwrote and sold,” the independent regulator said in a statement. “Although Credit Suisse knew...

The FHA could lose 7 percent, or $2.8 billion, of its current business if loan limits are lowered this year, according to a government analysis of the impact of new lower loan limits going into effect in the fall. Barring congressional action, the temporary FHA loan limits will revert by statute to the lower loan limits determined by the Housing and Economic Recovery Act for loans insured by the FHA on or after Oct. 1. The FHA single-family loan limit, which is tied to the conforming loan limit, continues to start at $271,050 in low-cost areas and goes as high as $729,750 in high-cost areas of the country. On Oct. 1, however...

The House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing, Insurance and Economic Opportunity will conduct another hearing on a Republican proposal to reform government mortgage programs and spur private sector participation in home financing. The Department of Housing and Urban Development, Ginnie Mae and the Rural Housing Services (RHS) will be asked to testify on the draft bill, the “FHA-Rural Regulatory Improvement Act,” which proposes reforms for the three agencies, enhanced lender enforcement tools, and return of private capital to the residential mortgage market. No date has been set for the hearing, and HUD has declined ...

The Mortgage Bankers Association has asked the FHA to allow the use of electronic signatures, or e-signatures, for all mortgage origination forms required by the agency. In a recent letter, the MBA requested Robert Ryan, acting assistant secretary for housing and FHA commissioner, to implement a revised policy authorizing e-signatures on all FHA loan documents. Electronic signatures are already acceptable under federal law and by the FHA on certain documents, the MBA noted. The use of e-signatures will help reduce processing issues that impair the homebuying process ...

Industry groups are recommending changes to FHA’s condominium rules to boost sales without putting pressure on the FHA’s Mutual Mortgage Insurance fund. Amending FHA rules on condo developments would enable lenders to move more real-estate-owned properties off their books as more units become eligible for buyers with FHA mortgages, the groups said. On the other hand, current condo owners would benefit from the increased owner-occupied ratio as vacant units are purchased, the groups noted. Improving the health of condo developments will reduce the risk to the insurance fund, they added. Condo loans are performing stronger ...