On March 7, 2017, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York announced the sentencing of an individual defendant to 15 years in prison and $2.5 million in forfeiture in connection with a loan modification scheme. The defendant may also be subject to additional restitution under the…
On February 17, 2017, the California Department of Business Oversight (California DBO) announced that it had entered in to a $225 million consent order with a national mortgage servicer following an investigation by a third-party auditor into loans serviced by the company in California between January 1, 2012 and June 30, 2015. The servicer had agreed to the audit…
On February 7, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and the Inspector General for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation announced a settlement agreement and consent order with a residential mortgage lender and…
On January 23, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it entered into a consent order with a mortgage servicer, resolving alleged violations of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), and the Consumer Financial Protection Act’s (CFPA) prohibition on deceptive acts or practices….
On January 23, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it entered into a consent order with a mortgage servicer, resolving allegations that the servicer violated the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) and the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA). The CFPB alleged that, during 2014, the servicer informed borrowers seeking loss mitigation…
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 December 28, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a $48 million settlement with a national mortgage lender, resolving allegations that the lender violated the False Claims Act by underwriting and endorsing Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured loans that failed to comply with FHA underwriting guidelines. The settlement was the result of an…
On December 28, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it filed a complaint against, and entered a consent order with, two Ohio-based banks, resolving allegations that the banks had violated the Fair Housing Act and Equal Credit Opportunity Act by engaging in discriminatory lending. The DOJ alleged that, from at…
On December 7, 2016, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it had entered into consent orders with three different reverse mortgage companies concerning alleged violations of the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) and Regulation N’s prohibitions on making material misrepresentations as to any “mortgage credit product.” The first consent order…