Lenders will face higher penalties for violations of agency rules and regulations as the FHA and the Department of Veterans Affairs adjust their respective maximum civil monetary penalties for inflation. The adjustments are mandated by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015, which also requires publication of an interim final rule showing the current and adjusted penalty amounts. Effective June 22, 2016, VA’s maximum civil monetary penalties for false loan guaranty certification increased from $10,000 to $21,563, and from $5,500 to $10,781 for fraudulent claims or statements in any VA program. Comments on the VA interim final rule must be received on or before Aug. 22, 2016. Meanwhile, the FHA also is making inflation adjustments for its maximum civil penalties through an interim final rule that will take effect Aug. 15, 2016, the day before the ...
The Department of Veterans Affairs is planning to conduct computer-based training for appraisal managers to improve the way they assess the VA Home Loan Guaranty program’s appraisal process. The VA said it hopes to garner more positive feedback from staff appraisal reviewers this year by having them train with LoanSafe Appraisal Manager (LSAM). LSAM, an appraisal risk-analysis tool from CoreLogic, automatically evaluates all the data and form fields in an appraisal, quickly returning an easy-to-use summary of key valuation, market-risk factors and compliance issues. In June last year, the VA announced an automated Appraisal Management Service (AMS) that includes the LSAM product for use in enhancing the appraisal review process prior to issuance of the Notice of Value. The AMS system provides lender and servicer appraisal processing programs and staff appraisal reviewers (SARs), which will ...
BancorpSouth said it reserved $13.8 million during the first quarter of 2016 to resolve matters associated with the settlement, and noted that any additional financial impact is expected to be immaterial.
Thanks to last week’s “Brexit” vote in the U.K. interest rates in the U.S. are tumbling again, reaching new lows for the year. In turn, lenders are celebrating the increased flow of applications while the servicing side of their businesses prepares for the worst. For servicers – especially publicly traded companies – there is a palpable fear of deep mortgage servicing rights markdowns that almost certainly will affect second-quarter results. And the timing couldn’t be worse: the rate drop comes with no room left for recovery. The second quarter has ended. Over the past year, several publicly traded mortgage firms – Ocwen, PHH Corp., Stonegate Mortgage and Walter Investment Management Corp., to name a few – have been...
Given the extensive and uncertain administrative, civil and contractual liabilities mortgage lenders are confronted with under the new TRID disclosure regime, anxiety about the inevitable mistakes that will occur remain high. But there are a few remedies available to lenders. During a presentation at the recent American Bankers Association regulatory compliance conference in San Diego, Rich Horn, founding attorney at Rich Horn Legal in Washington, DC, spelled out just what options exist for mortgage lenders to “cure” loans with defects under the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s integrated-disclosure rule. “If you have liability for a TRID violation, how do...
A borrower recently filed a lawsuit seeking class-action status against Fannie Mae related to an inquiry made into his credit file after his bankruptcy process was completed. Some attorneys said the case hints at a new type of lawsuit on the horizon stemming from the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Grant Bailey alleges that the government-sponsored enterprise made unauthorized inquiries into his credit after bankruptcy released him from any debt he owed to Fannie. Bailey filed documents in federal court on June 15 stating that the inquiry without his consent was not permissible under the FCRA and did not serve any legitimate business need. These allegations represent...
Last week, Ocwen Financial agreed to a $30 million settlement with the Department of Justice regarding two lawsuits that alleged violations of the False Claims Act. The lawsuits alleged that Ocwen Loan Servicing and Ocwen’s Homeward Residential division violated the FCA by falsely certifying their compliance with the Home Affordable Modification Program and FHA insurance programs, thus rendering all HAMP incentive and FHA insurance payments on Ocwen- or Homeward-serviced loans false claims. One of the cases was scheduled...
Ocwen experienced the greatest percentage decrease in average monthly complaint volume from the first quarter of 2015 to 1Q16. Then again, Ocwen's servicing portfolio has been shrinking.
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