On June 5, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it entered into a consent order with a state mortgage bank regarding alleged violations of the Loan Originator Compensation Rule and Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA). The CFPB alleged that the bank paid loan originators based on the interest rates charged on the…
On June 4, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that Director Richard Cordray issued a decision in the the first appeal of a CFPB administrative enforcement action. The appeal hearing was previously covered by Consumer Finance Enforcement Watch. The Director’s decision upheld in part and reversed in part an…
On June 3, a New York state jury acquitted a national bank of grand larceny and conspiracy charges. Following a two and a half year investigation, the Manhattan District Attorney indicted the bank and eleven former employees on charges of conspiracy, grand larceny, residential mortgage fraud and securities fraud, among…
On June 1, 2015, the Department of Justice announced a settlement with a regional bank over allegations that the bank originated and underwrote mortgage loans that did not meet applicable requirements of the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Federal Housing Administration (FHA) insurance program. The settlement was previously…
On May 29, 2015, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida granted the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) and the State of Florida a final default judgment against a Florida Foreclosure Relief Company and its corporate affiliates based on the company’s failure to answer or otherwise…
On May 28, 2015, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) and the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) filed a joint complaint and proposed consent order against a national mortgage lender in the United States District Court for Northern District of California. The complaint alleges that the lender violated the Equal Credit…
On May 22, 2015, the Michigan Attorney General (“AG”) and its Homeowner Protection Unit filed charges in Oakland County’s 48th District Court against a Michigan mortgage company and its owner alleging that the owner and mortgage company engaged in a scheme to defraud borrowers by promising to modify mortgages for…
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced that it reached a settlement agreement with a regional bank over a disparate treatment fair housing claim. HUD alleged that the bank engaged in racially discriminatory redlining by lending less in majority-minority census tracks than in other neighborhoods. Under the…
On May 13, New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman annouced that the AG obtained default judgment against Brooklyn and Florida Law Firms and the firms’ principal attorney for participating in a fraudulent mortgage rescue scheme. The AG’s petition alleged that, directly and through their third-party marketers, the firms collected…
On May 11, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) announced that it filed suit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California against the provider of a mortgage payment liaison service for allegedly misleading customers about costs associated with its bi-weekly mortgage payment program and misrepresenting…
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) settled claims with three defendants after the CFPB claimed the corporations were targeting homeowners who were struggling to make mortgage payments. The parties stipulated to final judgments for the individual defendants that were filed with the Court. The CFPB also filed a motion for default judgment as…
On April 30, 2015, the FTC announced that a Federal Court entered a preliminary injunction against a regional mortgage relief company over claims the company falsely represented to consumers that they could obtain mortgage modifications. The company allegedly represented that it was associated with various federally-approved mortgage relief programs, and…
On April 29, 2015, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Maryland Attorney General announced the filing of a complaint and proposed consent order against a regional title insurance company, its principals, and certain loan officers. The title company allegedly provided payments to loan officers in exchange for referrals for…
On April 2, 2015, a regional bank reached an agreement in principle to settle allegations brought by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) relating to its former subsidiary’s issuance of mortgage loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). The DOJ…
On April 10, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California had issued a temporary restraining order against a company offering mortgage-relief services to borrowers in financial trouble. The FTC’s complaint, filed on March 31, alleged that the company violated Section 5(a)…
On April 9, 2015, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) announced a settlement with a California-based mortgage lender over claims that the lender engaged in deceptive advertising practices. The company allegedly mailed advertisements bearing the logos of the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Federal Housing Administration, ostensibly to give…
On March 3, 2015 CFPB Director Richard Cordray appeared before the House Committee on Financial Services to deliver testimony regarding the Bureau’s work. Director Cordray spent much of his semiannual address touting the Bureau’s efforts in the mortgage space. In his written statement, Director Cordray commented on the Bureau’s Qualified…
On March 12, 2015, the Massachusetts Division of Banks entered into a consent order with a mortgage lender following a state investigation that determined that the mortgage lender was in substantial non-compliance with applicable state and federal statutes, rules, and regulations regarding its mortgage lending and determination and documentation of…
On February 25, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it had reached a settlement with MetLife Home Loans LLC concerning its investigation into MetLife’s origination and underwriting practices of loans insured by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Federal Housing Administration (FHA loans). As part of…
On March 3, 2015, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced a settlement with a national bank over allegations that the bank signed payment change notices in bankruptcy court without reviewing the accuracy of the documents and submitted inaccurate escrow statements. The U.S. Trustee initiated the investigation after the bank allegedly…