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WASHINGTON, D.C. - October 27, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- A federal district court in Southern California has ordered a judgment of nearly $515,000 against Mark Nagy Atalla, a defendant in a 2013 Federal Trade Commission action targeting deceptive mortgage and debt relief pitches. The court imposed the judgment after finding Atalla had hid assets and misrepresented his financial condition to the agency. The judgment originally was suspended in Atalla’s settlement order with the Commission, based on his supposed inability to pay.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - October 21, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- Kevin Kelly, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder and developer from Wilmington, Del., issued the following statement on today’s announcement by six federal regulators to establish new rules for a qualified residential mortgage that would exempt securitizers from retaining 5 percent of the credit risk on loans packaged and sold as securities:

WASHINGTON, D.C. - October 10, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- Tight mortgage lending standards continue to affect sales for single-family builders across the nation, according to a survey released by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). Well over half of the single-family builders surveyed indicated that lending standards were “tight” or “very tight,” while only 11 percent indicated that standards were “somewhat easy” and no builders described them as “very easy.”

WASHINGTON, D.C. - October 7, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- The NRMLA/RiskSpan Reverse Mortgage Market Index (RMMI), a quarterly measure that analyzes trends in home values, home equity, and mortgage debt held by homeowners 62 and older, reached 178.91 during the second quarter of 2014, its highest level since Q4 2007

Washington, DC - September 25, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, in reaction to the release of 2013 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data, NCRC President and CEO John Taylor made the following statement

WASHINGTON, D.C. - September 23, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) today announced the availability of data on mortgage lending transactions at 7,190 U.S. financial institutions covered by the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA). Covered institutions include banks, savings associations, credit unions, and mortgage companies. The HMDA data made available today cover 2013 lending activity, and include applications, originations, purchases and sales of loans, denials, and other actions related to applications

Washington, DC - September 18, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) and Urban Financial of America, LLC (UFA), one of the largest reverse mortgage lenders in the country, announced a collaboration to focus on fair lending to older adults. NCRC will serve in an advisory role to assist UFA with providing Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECMs) to qualified borrowers age 62 and older

WASHINGTON, D.C. - September 17, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Federal Housing Administration is overhauling a long-held policy of charging extra interest payments on loans it insures to borrowers who have already paid off the principal debts on their mortgages.

Washington, D.C. - September 5, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) and the American Association of Residential Mortgage Regulators (AARMR) announced this week that the Oklahoma Department of Consumer Credit (the Department) has received a certificate of accreditation for mortgage supervision. This accreditation certifies that the Department maintains the highest standards and practices in mortgage supervision set by the CSBS and AARMR Mortgage Accreditation Program

Reston, Virginia, - September 2, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- MERSCORP Holdings, Inc. today announced that the Superior Court of Pennsylvania affirmed the trial court’s granting of summary judgment in favor of the foreclosing mortgage holder and rejected the appellant’s wrongful foreclosure claims

WASHINGTON, D.C. - August 29, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- The owner of a Florida mortgage company, seven employees of the company and two real estate developers were indicted in the Southern District of Florida in connection with an alleged $50 million mortgage fraud scheme.

Reston, Virginia, - August 28, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- MERSCORP Holdings, Inc. today announced that the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota issued rulings in three cases that are favorable to Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. (MERS). The court held that the foreclosing entities who were the named defendants in the cases established unbroken chains of title under Minnesota law by producing mortgages in which MERS was named the original mortgagee and subsequent assignments by MERS to the foreclosing entities. The plaintiffs lacked standing to challenge the assignments by MERS and, based upon the unbroken chains of title, the foreclosures were proper.

BOSTON - August 20, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, Undersecretary of Housing and Community Development Aaron Gornstein announced the launch of www.MyMassMortgage.org (link is external), a website developed to assist potential homebuyers purchase their first home. The website, created under the Mass Mortgage Compact announced by Governor Deval Patrick, will provide information on finding affordable and reliable state sponsored mortgage products.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - August 18, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced today that Freedom Mortgage Corporation, a national residential mortgage lender based in Mt. Laurel, New Jersey, will pay $104,000 to settle allegations that it discriminated against loan applicants with disabilities by requiring them to provide medical or other documentation regarding their disability.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - August 12, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- Reston, Virginia, August 12, 2014—MERSCORP Holdings, Inc. today announced that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Superior Court granted summary judgment in favor of MERS in a suit challenging MERS’ authority to assign a mortgage

WASHINGTON, D.C. - August 8, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Federal Trade Commission, through an administrator, is mailing checks totaling approximately $800,000 to 1,305 consumers who fell prey to two related mortgage relief scams.

Washington, D.C. - August 8, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) and the American Association of Residential Mortgage Regulators (AARMR) announced today that the Iowa Division of Banking, Finance Bureau (The Division) has received reaccreditation certifying that the Division maintains the highest standards and practices in state mortgage supervision as set forth by the AARMR/CSBS Mortgage Accreditation Program. This is the Bureau’s second mortgage accreditation, with the first accreditation occurring in January 2010. The Division is led by Superintendent Jim Schipper

Wasilla, Alaska - July 29, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- Governor Sean Parnell signed legislation today strengthening veterans’ preferences for special loans, housing and employment.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - July 28, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released a proposed rule to improve the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA). In response Center for Responsible Lending president Mike Calhoun comments

WASHINGTON, D.C. - July 18, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- Two days after the historic Citigroup settlement, Associate Attorney General Tony West outlined the Justice Department’s approach to resolving the remaining cases related to Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities (RMBS) misconduct that contributed to the financial crisis. West declared that the department would not hesitate to bring litigation against these firms if these principles were not met