Government

On July 1, borrowers wanting to take out an FHA-insured loan would have potentially experienced a closing delay of 3 months or more if they had debt totaling or exceeding $1,000. Now, the FHA ""credit-dispute"" rule has been withdrawn, according to an agency letter released Friday. A HUD spokesperson said in an email that the decision to rescind the earlier proposal was based on input received. A new guidance on the issue will also be published very soon, the spokeperson stated.

The former CFO of Taylor, Bean and & Whitaker Mortgage Corp. (TBW) was sentenced to 60 months in prison for his role in a mortgage fraud scheme involving more than $2.9 billion, which eventually contributed to the collapse of TBW, the Justice Department announced in a statement. Delton de Armas was sentenced Friday by U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema in the Eastern District of Virginia. De Armas, 41, of Carrollton, Texas, pleaded guilty in March to one count of conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud and one count of making false statements, according to the statement.

The former president of Orion Bank was sentenced to 6 years in federal prison for conspiring to commit bank fraud and making false statements to bank examiners, U.S. Attorney Robert E. O'Neill announced Tuesday.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac completed nearly 2.3 million foreclosure prevention actions by from the start of their conservatorship to the end of March 2012, according to FHFA'ss Foreclosure Prevention Report for first-quarter 2012. The report, released Friday, showed that over 1.9 million of the foreclosure prevention actions undertaken by the GSEs have helped borrowers keep their homes. Moreover, half of borrowers who received loan modifications in Q1 2012 had their monthly payments reduced by more than 30 percent, with one third of those including principal forbearance.

Delinquent borrowers who responded to Fannie Mae's National Housing Survey for the first quarter of 2012 expressed more negative viewpoints toward homeownership and paying their mortgage compared to underwater borrowers and those who have seen their home values decline. The data was collected to learn more about the attitudes of the delinquent borrower population that is oftentimes difficult to reach.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced Thursday the introduction of his bill in the state Legislature that would protect New Yorkers from fraudulent business practices in the foreclosure process. Schneiderman's bill, titled The Foreclosure Fraud Prevention Act of 2012, defines residential mortgage foreclosure fraud and imposes new criminal penalties for those who intentionally engage in fraudulent conduct, including managers of residential mortgage businesses who tolerate such conduct by their employees. These penalties include jail time.

First time claims for unemployment insurance rose to 3086,000 for the week ended June 9, from the prior week's 38,000, (revised from the originally reported 377,000) the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists had expected the report would show 3795,000 initial claims.

Williston Financial Group (WFG),the parent company of WFG Lender Services and WFG National Title Insurance Company, announced Monday the appointment of Donald O'Neill as EVP of institutional services.

In a letter filed Wednesday to FHFA, the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) expressed its view that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should seek to align their operations as much as possible. The alignment would help set the stage and ease transition into the future for the GSEs, SIFMA suggests. SIFMA also submitted a list of steps and goals of FHFA's Strategic Plan to coordinate the GSEs and says they will require communication, careful planning, and a focus on the Enterprises' core activities from the industry at every stage.

Judicial Watch, a group dedicated to investigating and fighting possible government corruption, says it submitted a FOIA request on January 12 to CFPB seeking access to records of communications between the bureau, the White House, the Executive Office of the President, the Treasury, and Congress concerning Cordray's appointment to his post. That request also asked for records of communications between CFPB and the White House regarding Obama's visit to CFPB after the appointment, a move Politico referred to as a ""victory lap.""