Tag Archives: Attorneys & Title Companies

HUD signed off on debarment Monday for three South Florida loan officers and a Pittsburgh title agent following convictions that found the four had reaped $2.5 million in reverse mortgage fraud. In a statement, the federal agency said that juries of their peers convicted loan officers Marcos Echevarria, Louis Gendason, and John Incandela for their roles in systematically identifying, then pressuring elderly homeowners to trade up their home loans for reverse mortgages. The three reportedly also committed appraisal fraud by exaggerating values for the properties to seize more funds.

Touting its unique platform, Tradeweb Markets LLC has announced that the company recently reached a new benchmark, with more than $1 trillion in mortgage securities risk offset through the use of its trading technology. Tradeweb credits the company's new round-robin functionality of its programs for its success in the to-be announced-mortgage-backed securities (TBA-MBS) market.

Capitol Hill staffers are getting a chance to learn more about the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. The company recently announced that it will hold a free clinic for Congressional employees on Tuesday, April 17. The financial planning initiative from CFP is part of the 2012 Financial Literacy Day, which was organized by Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy. Through the clinic, CFP will offer one-on-one personal finance consultation for participants. Attendees for the CFP event will gain advice on mortgages, debt management, and more.

Builder confidence fell three points in April to 25, matching the lowest point of the year, the National Association of Home Builders said Monday. The month-over-month decline was the first since last September. All three components of the index ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô current sales, sales six months out and buyer traffic ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô fell in April, with buyer traffic slipping to a four month low. The builder assessment of present home sales conditions dropped three points to 26. The outlook for home sales in the next six months also fell three points to 32.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a bulletin Friday reminding financial institutions that they may be held accountable for violations under contracted service providers. The agency said that banks and nonbank entities need to supervise their third-party vendors with due diligence, consistently request and review their internal controls and training materials, and establish clear expectations about compliance. The CFPB also called on financial institutions to adopt the internal controls necessary to supervise vendors.

The special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program released a damning report Thursday that said only 3 percent of the funds designated to the hardest-hit homeowners have reached their goals. The report found that only $217.4 million will have helped 30,640 homeowners by 2017, when the Hardest-Hit Fund expires. Seventy-eight percent of HHF funds went to unemployment assistance for homeowners, and nearly 98 percent went to the same or helped reinstate past due amounts, according to the report.

Democratic state attorneys general circulated a letter Thursday that called on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô and their regulator ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô to move forward with principal reductions. FHFA Acting Director Edward DeMarco continues to resist calls by lawmakers and policymakers to implement new loan modifications for homeowners, stressing the agency├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├àÔÇ£preserve and conserve├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├é┬Ø mandate. Coakley and others were joined this week by International Monetary Fund Director Christine Lagarde.

A brokerage owner and three mortgage loan officers in New York faced future in prison Thursday as the authorities prepared to sentence the former and the latter pled guilty to mortgage fraud. MReport culled the latest accounts of fraud from a news publication and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Of the three loan officers, one may reportedly face up to 30 years in prison, while the other two each face 50 years. Tens of millions of dollars lost in their schemes resulted in loan defaults and bilked lenders.

First time claims for unemployment insurance jumped 13,000 to 380,000 for the week ended April 7, the Labor Department reported Thursday, the highest level since the end of January. At the same time the previous week's report was adjusted upward by 10,000, wiping out what had been a four-year low and showing an increase of 4,000 initial claims instead of an originally reported drop of 6,000 for the week ending in late March. Economists had expected initial claims would increase - from the original report - to 359,000. The week-over-week jump in first time claims was the second straight of the year.

The economy continued to expand at a modest to moderate pace from mid-February through late March, the Federal Reserve said Wednesday in its periodic Beige Book. The central bank reported faster and solid growth in Kansas City and Minneapolis but moderate or modest growth in Boston, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, San Francisco Cleveland, and St. Louis. New York reported economic growth picked up somewhat while Philadelphia and Richmond cited improving business conditions. Banking conditions remained stable, the Beige Book said, with modest improvements in demand for lending.