Tag Archives: HUD

A troubled year for housing surfaced in a February housing scorecard from the Obama administration Friday, underscoring a still-unsteady pace for home prices, mortgage origination volume, and housing supply. Jointly released by HUD and the Treasury Department, the scorecard reflects an industry still in transition from crisis to recovery. The scorecard cited a National Association of Realtors Home Affordability Index, showing that it moved from 179.1 February last year to 194.9 this year, not far from the level seen in January.

The federal government leveled charges against Bank of America Monday that the mortgage company wrongfully discriminated against three borrowers with disabilities. HUD filed suit under the False Claims Act, alleging that Bank of America requested proof of disability from borrowers and Social Security income information after denying their qualifications for mortgage loans. In a sign of the growing authority for working groups, HUD said that it would hand off the investigation to the Justice Department and Federal Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, which will assign it to a group.

The mortgage subsidiary for Citigroup settled claims that it misrepresented government-backed loans Wednesday by agreeing to pay $158.3 million in damages. The payout means that CitiMortgage acknowledges that it qualified nearly 30,000 bad loans for government insurance, a move that bilked the Federal Housing Administration out of millions of dollars as more than 30 percent of the mortgages went into default. The settlement resolves a suit filed by the civil fraud unit at the office of Manhattan U.S. attorney.

More than a year's worth of rumors, negotiations, and reversals concluded Thursday with a $26-billion mega-settlement between government officials and the nation├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós five largest mortgage servicers. The size and scope of the settlement makes it the largest endeavor by state and federal officials in U.S. history. Federal officials and 49 state attorneys general closed a deal with Ally Financial Corp., Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo that supplies homeowners in distress with new relief and establishes new servicing standards.

A new federal task group set up to investigate residential mortgage-backed securities fraud made progress Friday when officials signed off on subpoenas for 11 undisclosed financial institutions. Numerous high-ranking federal officials joined New York Attorney General and co-chair Eric Schneiderman at a press conference to outline the Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities Working Group, which President Barack Obama announced he would form during his State of the Union address Thursday.

Mortgage lender American Financial Resources, Inc., has added a new national sales director. AFR recently announced the appointment of Paul Impagliazzo to the position, and he will now be responsible for the company's wholesale and correspondent lending divisions.

The Bipartisan Policy Center's Housing Commission has added a new member, with the announcement that Alfred DelliBovi will join the organization. DelliBovi's appointment to the commission continues the development of the group's leadership roster, which includes numerous national business and civic leaders. Other members of the commission include Henry Cisneros and former U.S. Senator Mel Martinez, both of whom have previously acted as HUD secretaries; Senator Kit Bond; and George Mitchell, who co-founded the Bipartisan Policy Center.

Members of the Senate Banking Committee voted Tuesday to send nominees for top posts at the Federal Housing Administration and Federal Reserve Board to the full Senate floor. Lawmakers approved FHA Acting Commissioner and former BRIDGE Housing CEO Carole Galante 13 to 9 on a largely party-line vote, with only Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tennessee) breaking ranks with GOP faithful to cast in favor of the nominee. Thomas Hoenig meanwhile moved to the Senate floor on a unanimous vote.

The results are in from the November 2011 Housing Scorecard. In addition to the report's traditional look at the country├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós real estate and mortgage markets, the most recent survey also closely examined the nation's 10 largest mortgage servicers participating in the Making Home Affordable Program, to promote transparency related to the platform's performance.

The weak capital position of the Federal Housing Administration came into play at a hearing Thursday, where members of the House Financial Services Committee grilled HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan. Lawmakers took turns interrogating the Obama administration official over substantially fewer reserves in place to meet loan guarantees at a time when the housing market stays near bottom. The federal agency recently came under fire from news media, think tanks, and academia for failing to meet the minimum threshold.