Hard Money Loans

A settlement in a class-action lawsuit will cost Fairway Independent Mortgage Corp. more than $1 million. At issue are alleged undisclosed yield spread premiums and claims of mortgage fraud by a Missouri originator. The lead plaintiffs claim that Fairway, as a mortgage broker, had a fiduciary duty to provide them with the least expensive loan and breached that duty by collecting yield spread premiums.

View full post on Mortgage Stories

A foreclosure judgment on behalf of HSBC Mortgage Services Inc. was reversed by the District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District. In California, GMAC Mortgage Corp. was denied its application for service upon a borrower by publication in the Santa Clara weekly. A foreclosure filed by Bank of America was dismissed by a judge in the Superior Court of New Jersey Chancery Division.

View full post on Mortgage Stories

A settlement with U.S. Bank was announced by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The bank allegedly did not meet underwriting standards on more than two dozen Federal Housing Administration mortgages. The agreement calls for a payment of more than $1 million.

View full post on Mortgage Stories

Two proposed disclosure forms have been released by the Consumer Financial Protection Agency. The regulator is asking lender to identify which of the two forms would better inform a prospective borrower about loan terms. The two forms include identical information for a 30-year adjustable-rate mortgage to be used for a home purchase.

View full post on Mortgage Stories

Nationally, distressed sales account for 39 percent of the housing market. Repossessed properties and those owned by borrowers in financial peril weigh heavily on the real estate market. Sales of those homes, commercial buildings and lots make up such a large percentage of the market today that the appraiser’s old axiom — that distressed sales not be factored into establishing valuation — no longer strictly applies.

View full post on Mortgage Stories

The Housing Finance Reform Act of 2011 has been introduced into Congress. The bill seeks to ensure liquidity in the conventional mortgage market during all economic cycles while limiting the government’s exposure. “The bipartisan legislation introduced by Congressmen Campbell and Peters to reform our secondary markets closely mirrors the proposal of MBA’s Council on Ensuring Mortgage Liquidity, the Mortgage Bankers Association’s chairman said in a statement.

View full post on Mortgage Stories

President George W. Bush appointed Sheila Bair as chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. in 2006. More than 300 federally insured banks have failed during Blair’s tenure. The FDIC has announced that Bair will leave in July.

View full post on Mortgage Stories

A 15 percent jump in refinance inquiries from last week was noted in the Mortgage Market Index . Refinance share rose to 47 percent from 45 percent. This week’s share reflected a 34 percent rate-term share and a 13 percent cashout share.

View full post on Mortgage Stories

Deutsche Bank AG and subsidiary MortgageIT “repeatedly lied” on Federal Housing Administration originations, according to a civil lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice. MortgageIT “recklessly selected mortgages that violated program rules in blatant disregard of whether borrowers could make mortgage payments,” the suit alleges. Deutsche Bank said it is still reviewing the complaint.

View full post on Mortgage Stories

Patton Boggs LLP announced that its mortgage group has teamed up with The Collingwood Group LLC. In a telephone interview, a Patton Boggs partner noted that right out of the gate the two firms hope to help mortgage firms tackle the Federal Reserve Board’s loan originator compensation rule. Other issues the alliance is expected to deal with are risk retention and the Fed’s proposed payment ability requirements under Regulation Z.

View full post on Mortgage Stories