On July 20, 2017, acting United States Attorney Stephen Muldrow announced a civil settlement with the owner of a Florida condominium complex over fraudulent reverse mortgage transactions. Defendant had been accused of violating the False Claims Act (“FCA”) and the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 (“FIRREA”). The Federal…
On July 11, 2017, the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced that its Mortgagee Review Board had suspended a national mortgage lender from originating and underwriting new mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). HUD’s Departmental Enforcement Center also banned the lender’s owner from doing business with the federal…
On March 10, 2017, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”) announced that it reached a settlement with an Illinois bank resolving allegations that the bank engaged in illegal “redlining” of minority neighborhoods in the Rockford, Illinois metropolitan area. HUD initiated its investigation after the Hope Fair Housing Alliance (“Hope”)…
On January 26, 2017, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”) announced that it reached settlements with two insurance companies, available here and here, resolving allegations that the companies’ practice of refusing to provide home insurance on properties used for subsidized or low income housing had a discriminatory effect on…
On January 18, 2017, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York (USAO) filed a lawsuit against a national bank, alleging that the bank had engaged in a years-long practice of racial discrimination in providing mortgage services. The parties reportedly have agreed to terms of a settlement to resolve the action. The…
On January 13, 2017, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced that it had filed a lawsuit against a Minnesota bank, stemming from allegations that the bank engaged in illegal “redlining” of minority neighborhoods in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. The DOJ alleged in its complaint that the bank violated the Fair…
On September 29, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it had secured a settlement from a national lender, resolving allegations that the lender violated the False Claims Act, Program Fraud Civil Remedies Act, and the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 in its underwriting of Federal…
On September 23, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced that on April 7, 2016 it had entered into a settlement with a Federal Housing Administration (FHA) approved lender over allegations that the lender violated FHA underwriting requirements. The lender participated in HUD’s direct endorsement lender program, which…
On September 13, 2016, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced a settlement agreement with a bank for allegedly violating the False Claims Act by improperly underwriting and originating of FHA-insured mortgage loans. According to the DOJ, from January 1, 2006 to December 31, 2011, the lender was improperly underwriting and certifying that mortgage loans…
On July 29, 2016, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced a settlement with a bank concerning allegations that they denied loan approval to a woman on maternity leave in violation of the Fair Housing Act (FHA). The woman had applied for a home equity line of credit, but the bank allegedly told…
On May 19, 2016, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it filed a lawsuit against a national mortgage company relating to the company’s participation in the Direct Endorsement Lender Program of the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Federal Housing Administration (FHA) insurance program. A qui tam plaintiff…
On April 25, 2016, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced that it entered into a settlement agreement with a regional bank over allegations the bank engaged in discriminatory lending practices in violation of the Fair Housing Act. According to HUD, the bank discriminated against racial minorities by refusing…
On April 15, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that a mortgage company settled claims it violated the False Claims Act by originating and underwriting mortgage loans insured by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Federal Housing Administration (FHA) that failed to comply with certain requirements for the FHA insurance program. The settlement…
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced that it reached an 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 the majority-minority neighborhood of the East Side of Kansas City, Missouri….
On January 19, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it had reached a settlement with a national bank over allegations that the bank discriminated against mortgage loan applicants who had disabilities or received public assistance. The DOJ alleged in its simultaneously filed complaint that the bank violated the Fair Housing…
On January 12, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced that it filed administrative charges against three California home loan modification assistance companies and their employees, alleging that they targeted Hispanic homeowners by charging thousands of dollars for services that were never provided or were ineffective. HUD’s…
On September 28, 2015, the acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York announced the filing of a civil suit against several mortgage lenders and a consumer counseling and relief fund. The suit alleges that the lenders conspired with the counseling fund in an effort to hide their high default…
On August 5, 2015, a bank revealed in an U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”) Office of Inspector General and the U.S. Department of Justice (collectively, the “Government”) are currently investigating whether the bank complied with underwriting requirements on loans…