Tag Archives: Attorneys & Title Companies

Overture Technologies, Inc., has been partially acquired by CompuGain Corporation and its mortgage division is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company. Overture, a software solutions company for the mortgage and educational finance industries, sold its mortgage component to CompuGain and will continue to operate as Overture Financial Solutions under the CompuGain banner.

Sperlonga Data and Analytics welcomes Brent Stokes as its choice for the company├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós newly created position of senior vice president. Stokes brings veteran experience earned over a 26-year career in the mortgage industry to his new role, which encompasses Sperlonga├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós homeowners association-oriented programs for lenders, investors, servicers, and other stakeholders.

The FDIC went after 34 banks for violations of federal law and agency requirements over July, slapping nearly 20 with civil fines, notifying some to correct recent decisions, and barring directors with two institutions to cease their involvement in executive decisions over allegations of personal and fiduciary misconduct. The majority of institutions felt the sting of civil money fines for various reasons. Also, no banks failed over the weekend, leading an FDIC spokesperson to conclude that the trend will continue over 2011.

Another week rolled by with more instances of mortgage fraud, as reported by several news outlets from around the country. Defendants alternately received indictments, pled guilty, and submitted to their sentences from courts as a result of allegations and convictions stemming from mortgage fraud conspiracy, wire fraud, and money-laundering activities. The alleged activities resulted in millions of dollars in fraudulently obtained money from lenders.

Big lenders are set to unload up to $5 billion in commercial mortgage bonds, with planned securities offerings scheduled in September and October. Participating financial institutions include Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Citigroup Inc., Bank of America Corp., Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo & Co., Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, and JPMorgan Chase & Co. The upcoming bond sales are largely attributed to the effects of struggling U.S. employment numbers, the European debt crisis, and the resistance against debt.

Another acquisition for PSM Holdings, Inc. is in the works, with the company├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós announcement that it has established a letter of intent to purchase Iowa Mortgage Professionals, Inc. This is the third such move by PSMH.

After threatening to shut down mortgage insurance operations at The PMI Group, Inc., the Arizona Department of Insurance made good by issuing an order that forced the company to cease writing new mortgage policies, effective Friday. PMI Mortgage Insurance Co., the division responsible for mortgage insurance, shut down two of its units in response. A June 30 financial statement signaling a $329-million net loss, coupled with $574 million in incurred losses, alerted the department to approximately $320 million in policy holder deficits.

Four banks walked the line to failure over the weekend, raising the bank collapse figure to 68 on the heels of increased public scrutiny by lawmakers over bank failures. Illinois-based First Choice Bank, Georgia-based First Southern National Bank, Florida-based Lydian Private Bank, and Pennsylvania-based Public Savings Bank all left the table, leaving the FDIC to foot the whopping $374.8-million bill. The FDIC found itself playing the familiar role of receiver in all four loss-share transactions by other banks.

Accenture is planning to acquire Zenta as part of the company├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós ongoing efforts to bolster its mortgage lending and servicing operations. The terms of the transaction have not been released, but Accenture has confirmed its intention to debut a new division targeting consulting, technology, and BPO offerings.

A $50 million mortgage fraud scheme, bank fraud by a title agency, mortgage Ponzi scheme by a former Republican chairwoman, and trouble for an alleged ring of scamming lawyers helped round out a week in mortgage fraud and demonstrate that sham loans are alive and well across the nation. A flurry of lawsuits, indictments, guilty pleas, and sentences awaited alleged and convicted schemers alike. The trouble arrived on the heels of a fresh Federal Bureau of Investigation report that recorded a spike in mortgage fraud activity over 2010.