Most of the mortgage fraud investigations in 2013 that involved industry professionals were about misrepresentations on loan documents, evidence that the market remains fertile for fraud, according to a new LexisNexis report. Focusing on proven incidences of fraud, the report found that the share of loans investigated in 2013 for misrepresentation on the credit report, credit history or references rose to 17 percent from 5 percent in 2012. Notably, property valuation fraud ...
With Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on solid financial footing in terms of earnings, some factions of the mortgage industry believe the two should be allowed to rebuild capital by retaining some of their profits. But getting there would require a hard push from the White House, and the approval of the Treasury Department, which controls the senior preferred stock of the two. In a recent letter to Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew and Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Melvin Watt ...
An attorney representing the Federal Housing Finance Agency called on a federal judge in Iowa to dismiss a third federal suit brought by affiliated entities challenging the terms of the 2012 Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac net worth sweep. “There is gamesmanship going on here, your honor,” said Howard Cayne, an attorney with Arnold & Porter who is representing the FHFA in its motion for summary judgment. Investors say the net worth sweep, authorizing the Treasury to ...
The American Bankers Association is urging the Federal Housing Finance Agency to withdraw its proposed amendments to membership eligibility in the Federal Home Loan Bank System, saying the proposal would make the liquidity provided by the 12 FHLBs subject to uncertainty and add regulatory burden to member institutions. The ABA, in a Dec. 19 comment letter, took particular exception to the measures requiring a member’s mortgage holdings be reviewed annually instead of ...
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are continuing their efforts in support of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s eClosing initiative as well as the broader industrywide push for eventual eMortgage adoption, despite the challenges that have confronted the latter over the past decade. Ann Epstein, product development director at Freddie, told Inside The GSEs she does not think the limited adoption of eMortgages to date is a technology issue. “The technology ...
The Federal Housing Finance Agency is fighting state-level court actions that threaten the first-lien status of loans backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, including a recent ruling in Nevada granting a homeowners association priority in collecting unpaid HOA fees ahead of the mortgage lender in a foreclosure. The regulator has filed separate actions in federal court in Nevada seeking to overturn recent state court rulings allowing HOAs to jump to the front of the creditor list with ...
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