The Federal Reserve Board recently brought a consent order against Morgan Stanley to deal with what it characterized as a pattern of misconduct and negligence in residential mortgage servicing and foreclosure processing at the Wall Street firm’s Saxon Mortgage Services subsidiary, once the 34th largest mortgage servicer in the United States. “As noted in the announcements relating to the 2011 enforcement actions, the Federal Reserve believes monetary sanctions are appropriate and plans to announce monetary penalties in these cases,” the Fed said. The monetary penalties...

The $25 billion servicing settlement involving five major bank servicers was approved by the US District Court for the District of Columbia on April 4 without a formal challenge from the Association of Mortgage Investors or anyone else. The servicers and settlement monitor Joseph Smith will agree on deadlines to implement the settlement’s various provisions, with the deadlines to be set between 60 days after approval of the settlement and up to 180 days after approval ... [Includes four briefs]

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has announced discrimination settlements with two mortgage lenders accused of denying FHA mortgage loans to expectant mothers. Two women filed separate complaints against Magna Bank in Nashville, TN, and Home Loan Center in Irvine, CA, alleging a violation of the Fair Housing Act. According to the complaints, the women’s loan applications were rejected because they were pregnant and temporarily on leave. The settlement agreement with Magna Bank requires the bank to pay the complainant $14,085 for allegedly ...

A legal action brought by a group of four pension funds against Bank of New York Mellon alleging that the bank failed in its role as trustee to Countrywide MBS investors will proceed in federal court, albeit on much narrower grounds, a U.S. District Court judge has ruled. Last week, Judge William Pauley of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York reduced “with prejudice” the number of Countrywide MBS trusts on which the plaintiffs could sue from 530 to 26. The case is Retirement Board of the Policemen’s Annuity and Benefit Fund of the City of Chicago, et al v. the Bank of New York...

Some liberal interest groups are questioning whether the RMBS working group formed by federal and state enforcement agencies to coordinate securitization investigations is moving fast enough. In an email circulated earlier this week, CREDO, a progressive network, wrote that the Department of Justice has yet to deliver on its promise of 55 investigators to the RMBS working group. As federal and state enforcement agencies were wrapping up the contentious $25 billion settlement with five mortgage servicers in late January, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced a new task force designed to “stream...

A conflict-of-interest provision in the $25 billion robo-signing settlement approved by the court last week could make it harder for independent settlement monitor Joseph Smith to organize an oversight monitoring team within the agreement’s timeline. Smith, North Carolina’s former commissioner of banks, may have to issue or seek clarifying guidelines that would allow him to recruit attorneys and other professionals for his monitoring team and begin a phased implementation of the settlement’s servicing standards and mandatory relief requirements, according to an industry attorney. Last week...

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could end up on the hook for millions of dollars in unpaid property taxes as well as the targets of numerous legal complaints following a Michigan federal judge’s ruling that could force the GSEs to open their coffers to a plethora of revenue-starved local governments. Two weeks ago, U.S. District Court Judge Victoria Roberts granted Oakland County, MI, summary judgment in its lawsuit against Fannie and Freddie because the two GSEs failed to pay the transfer tax on deeds recorded by the state Register of Deeds Office, as required by Michigan law.

Bank of America appeared to clear a hurdle in getting final approval for its proposed $8.5 billion MBS settlement when the New York State Supreme Court last week dismissed an attempt to overturn the deal by an investor group that was not included in the settlement. New York State Supreme Court Justice Barbara Kapnick dismissed the complaint brought by Walnut Place LLC and related entities on March 28 saying that the investors can’t sue BofA directly without giving the Bank of New York Mellon enough time to act in its role as the MBS trustee. Walnut Place’s appeal seeks to revive its suit against BofA. Walnut...

President Obama this week signed into law a measure that, among other things, kills big bonus payments to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac executives for as long as the GSEs are subsidized by taxpayers. After nearly two months and some legislative positioning, Congress passed the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act of 2012. Primarily, the STOCK Act bars House and Senate members and their staff from using non-public, inside information for personal benefit.However, an amendment to the bill which was passed on an overwhelmingly bipartisan margin in both houses of Congress prohibits the payment of bonuses over and above a GSE executive’s salary compensation while Fannie and Freddie remain in government conservatorship.

Three former Fannie Mae executives, including the company’s one-time CEO, have petitioned a federal judge to toss the securities fraud case the government filed against them late last year. Filed last week in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, the motion to dismiss contends the Securities and Exchange Commission is thin on proof that the GSE, at the direction of the then top executives, failed to disclose to investors the companies’ exposure to subprime mortgages prior to the 2008 housing market crash.