Mortgage

Chicago, IL - October 23, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- David H. Stevens, President & CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today delivered the following remarks at the association’s 99th Annual Convention and Expo in Chicago, IL.

WASHINGTON, DC - October 22, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- Two former officers of Arizona-based residential mortgage loan originator American Mortgage Specialists Inc. (AMS) pleaded guilty today for their roles in a $27 million scheme to defraud North Dakota-based BNC National Bank, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Timothy Q. Purdon of the District of North Dakota; Christy Romero, Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP); and Steve A. Linick, Inspector General of the Federal Housing Finance Agency Office of Inspector General (FHFA-OIG).

WASHINGTON, D.C. - October 18, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- Gov. Rick Perry joined Dan Wallrath, founder and president of Operation Finally Home, and Jonestown Mayor Deane Armstrong to break ground on a brand-new, mortgage-free home for U.S. Army Spc. Au...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - October 17, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- Mortgage applications decreased 4.2 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending October 12, 2012. This week’s results include an adjustment to account for the Columbus Day holiday.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - October 15, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- Steven R. Hinz pleaded guilty today to tax fraud and mortgage fraud charges in Cleveland federal court, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced. Hinz’s guilty ple...

Charleston - October 12, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- Attorney General Darrell McGraw warns West Virginia borrowers who lost their homes to foreclosure to avoid scammers offering help with the National Mortgage Settlement. McGraw reminds all consumers ne...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - October 11, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- On October 9, 2012 the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) provided official comments and exhibits on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB’s) Proposed Servicing Rules that amend the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) and the Truth in Lending Act (TILA). CFBP’s proposed rules were released in early August

October 10, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- United States Attorney Laura E. Duffy announced today that Orange County attorney Stephen Kenneth Chrysler was sentenced to serve 37 months in prison for his role in an $8 million mortgage fraud scheme involving 1...

LOS ANGELES, CA - October 10, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, Attorney General Eric Holder, Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan, FBI Associate Deputy Director Kevin L. Perkins, and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairman Jon L...

OLYMPIA - October 10, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Consumer Services Division of the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) announced today they have filed 40 Statements of Charges against businesses preying on Washington homeown...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - October 10, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- Mortgage applications decreased 1.2 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending October 5, 2012.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - October 10, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Helen Kanovsky, General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”), and David A. Montoya, Inspector General of HUD, announced today that the United States has filed a civil mortgage fraud lawsuit against WELLS FARGO BANK, N.A. (“WELLS FARGO”). The Government’s Complaint seeks damages and civil penalties under the False Claims Act and the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 (“FIRREA”) for more than 10 years of misconduct in connection with WELLS FARGO’s participation in the Federal Housing Administration (“FHA”) Direct Endorsement Lender Program.

Washington, DC - October 9, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Acting Director Edward J. DeMarco today released an updated strategic plan for FHFA for fiscal years 2013-2017 subtitled, “Preparing a Foundation for a More Efficient and Effective Housing Finance System.”

VIENNA, VA - October 9, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- Suspicious activity reports (SARs) regarding foreclosure rescue scams continued to grow in the first half of 2012, even as the total number of SARs indicating mortgage loan fraud (MLF) declined, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) announced today in its latest Mortgage Loan Fraud Update. This update to FinCEN's prior MLF reports looks at SAR filings from April through June 2012 (2012 Q2).

WASHINGTON, D.C. - October 9, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Federal Trade Commission has filed three separate suits in federal court to halt the allegedly deceptive tactics of three operations that preyed on distressed homeowners by falsely claiming they could save their homes from foreclosure, and then charging them thousands of dollars up-front, while delivering little or no help and often driving them deeper into debt.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - October 9, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- Good morning. Today I’m joined by several key leaders in the federal government’s ongoing work to combat financial fraud – and specifically, to prevent and punish the various types of mortgage fraud schemes that, in recent years, have devastated homeowners, families, and communities nationwide. Secretary Shaun Donovan, of the Department of Housing and Urban Development; FBI Associate Deputy Director Kevin Perkins; Chairman Jon Leibowitz, of the Federal Trade Commission; and HUD Inspector General David Montoya are here to help announce the results of a groundbreaking, year-long mortgage fraud enforcement effort – the first ever to focus exclusively on crimes targeting homeowners

WASHINGTON, D.C. - October 9, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- Attorney General Eric Holder, Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan, FBI Associate Deputy Director Kevin L. Perkins and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairman Jon Leibowitz today announced the results of the Distressed Homeowner Initiative, the first-ever nationwide effort to target fraud schemes that prey upon suffering homeowners.

Washington, DC - October 8, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) today released for public input a white paper on...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - October 8, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- “The complaint filed against Bear Stearns, now owned by JPMorgan Chase, is a welcome step in an ongoing investigation of Wall Street investment banking activities leading up to the financial crisis. This is the first action taken by this federal task force to bring accountability and relief to homeowners and others who have suffered the devastating consequences of uprooted families, defrauded investors and a crippled economy.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - October 4, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- In 2011, 2,653 different multifamily lenders provided a total of $110.1 billion in new mortgages for apartment buildings with five or more units, according to a report from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). The 2011 dollar volume represents a 60 percent increase from 2010 levels. Seventy-two percent of the active lenders made five or fewer multifamily loans over the course of the year.