Only about 18 of the 247 “high cost” metropolitan markets will avoid seeing their FHA loan limits lowered at the end of this month, when the emergency loan-limit adjustments for the FHA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are set to expire, according to a new analysis by Inside Mortgage Finance. All 24 metro markets that now have loan limits of $729,750 (or higher in Hawaii) will see their limits dropped to at least $625,500, and some of these areas in California will see...

Law enforcement and regulatory officials may be undermining their odds of reaching a foreclosure-practices settlement with the mortgage industry because they’re grasping for too much, too soon, letting the perfect become the enemy of the good, according to some political and legal observers. Attorneys general in all 50 states and the Department of Justice and other federal agencies continue to investigate alleged irregularities in the foreclosure practices of top servicers, including Bank of America, which is...

Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan said it was just “a matter of weeks” until there would be a settlement between federal and state agencies and much of the mortgage servicing industry over foreclosure practices in the aftermath of the “robo-signing” scandal. That was almost three months ago. Recent indications suggest the coalition of government agencies involved in the effort may be fraying. Last week, Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, who is leading negotiations with the industry, suddenly dumped New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman from the coalition’s executive committee, claiming the NY AG had “actively worked to undermine” the group’s efforts recently.

To promote openness and transparency, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has adopted a new policy governing ex parte (one party only) presentations, generally requiring public disclosure of such presentations made to CFPB staff concerning a pending rulemaking. The rule essentially requires anyone who communicates with the CFPB about a pending rulemaking to submit a written copy of the presentation (or a summary of an oral presentation) on the public rulemaking record within three days after the communication to the CFPB. The stated purpose of the rule is to “promote openness and transparency” and to give the public “access to the input that CFPB is receiving.” However, the CFPB’s policy has two significant exceptions that call into question how transparent the CFPB’s rulemaking process will really be, according to Ballard Spahr attorney Christopher Willis.

The Conference of State Bank Supervisors and the American Association of Residential Mortgage Regulators jointly provided input to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on defining “larger participants” of a market for other consumer financial products or services. Their first main point was that the CFPB ought to pay close attention to state legal definitions of the market, state jurisdictional coverage, and the overall consumer protection priority of the market. Second, the two agencies suggested that, when deciding how to define what entities are “larger,” the criteria and thresholds ought to be flexible, determined on an industry-by-industry basis, and based on aggregated institutional ownership.

Lex Consulting’s mortgage fraud examiners’ project is warning foreclosure attorneys to be extra careful to identify contract breaches and/or tortious conduct or face malpractice or at least disgorgement of fees from their own client. “Only exposure of contract breaches and/or tortious conduct underlying a mortgage transaction provides a sound strategic basis for liberating homeowners from the bondage of mortgage foreclosure,” said Storm Bradford, founder of the project. “Homeowners and attorneys need to understand a promissory note/mortgage/deed of trust is nothing more, nothing less than a contract. Moreover, attorneys need to be extra careful,” he added. “According to several ethics

Illinois. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois announced that a former South Holland, IL, man, Kenneth Steward, was sentenced to 17 years and six months in federal prison for allegedly directing a $35 million mortgage fraud scheme involving more than 120 residences on Chicago’s south side. The scheme caused various lenders and financial institutions to lose approximately $16 million on mortgage loans that were not repaid by the borrowers or fully recovered through subsequent foreclosure sales, federal law enforcement officials said. The sentence that was imposed is one of the longest ever given to a mortgage fraud defendant in federal court in Chicago, according to officials.

Senate Banking Committee. Richard Cordray nomination. The Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee has planned a Sept. 6, 2011, hearing to consider the nomination of Richard Cordray to be director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Political observers will look for signs from Republican members of the committee, particularly Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby, of any potential easing of opposition to the appointment. Thus far, GOP members of the Senate have uniformly remained adamant to the naming of any director to the CFPB until some significant changes are made to its structure, the most notable of which would be the replacement of a single director with a board leadership structure.

The Arizona Department of Insurance has put PMI Mortgage Insurance Co. and PMI Insurance Co. under the department’s supervision, and required them to cease issuing new mortgage insurance commitments effective as of the close of business Aug. 19, 2011, unless otherwise approved by the director or the supervisor that has been appointed over the firms. Under the order, MIC and PIC may issue mortgage insurance policies under pending commitments through the close of business on Sept. 16, 2011. In addition, PMI Mortgage Insurance Co. must cease making interest payments on the $285 million in aggregate principal amount of surplus notes that it has issued. During the period of supervision, the two companies are prohibited from taking a variety of actions without approval, including lending funds, merging with another company, entering into reinsurance contracts ...

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has spelled out the conditions under which borrowers must successfully complete a trial payment plan before they can get a permanent standard loan modification under the FHA’s loss mitigation program. A HUD mortgagee letter (ML 2011-28) also specifies the time requirements for completing loan modification and partial claim documents for a servicer to receive an incentive fee. The FHA reported 13,368 loan modifications and 3,082 partial claims paid in June. A total of 119,703 FHA loan modifications were reported from October 2010 through June 2011, and 21,035 foreclosure claims were paid over the same period. Their workout ratios were ...