Government

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) is expanding its reach. The agency, which in the past has required banks to establish anti-money laundering programs and notify FinCEN of suspected fraud through suspicious activity reports (SARs), will now require non-bank residential mortgage originators and lenders to do the same. FinCEN has noticed recently that many SARs it has received from banks reported suspicious activity on loans originated by independent lenders.

PropertyAccess, a provider of national property management services for institutional investors, is taking the guesswork out of the REO-to-rental market by offering investors a solution that addresses the full lifecycle of property management, including assessment, evaluation, renovation, management, maintenance, and future disposition. The industry's support to release the excess of government-owned REO properties to investors is growing, and PropertyAccess says it can support investors with a single-source solution.

The deadline for the 50 state attorneys general to sign onto the settlement negotiated between the committee headed by Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller and five large servicers was extended from Friday to Monday. Late Monday evening, Miller's office issued a statement saying more than 40 states have agreed to participate. For the past few months, the number repeated from various sources is $25 billion. That's $25 billion that Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, and Ally Financial would pay for a clean slate regarding robo-signing misdeeds of the past.

More than 930,000 homeowners have received a permanent modification through the government's Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), saving an estimated $10.5 billion in monthly mortgage payments, according to Treasury. While this tally - nearly three years after the program's launch - falls well short of the results initially promised by President Obama of helping 3 to 4 million homeowners restructure their loans, federal officials continue to tout a key success of HAMP as improving standards and processes within the industry.

A New York housing counselor has been sentenced to 72 months in jail and three years supervision by a U.S. District Court judge after defrauding 136 homeowners who reached out for help as they attempted to avoid foreclosure. The judge also ordered Lori J. Macakanja to pay $298,639 in restitution to the homeowners affected. Macakanja reportedly required upfront fees from homeowners and promised in return to help them achieve mortgage modifications in order to stave off foreclosure.

Among the provisions stipulated in Florida's newly revised House Bill 319 are enhanced specifications regarding banks' obligations to homeowner associations (HOAs). When a bank forecloses on a home, it potentially absorbs liabilities from unpaid homeowner or condo association fees, which are often compounded by late fees and attorney fees. Reps. George R. Moraitis and Fed Costello co-sponsored House Bill 319, providing banks clarification on just how much liability they incur.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has filed a lawsuit against the nation's top three mortgage lenders charging that their use of the electronic registry system MERS has resulted in deceptive and fraudulent foreclosure filings throughout New York's state and federal courts. The lawsuit alleges that employees of Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, and Wells Fargo, acting as ""MERS certifying officers,"" submitted court documents containing false information. MERS is also named as a defendant.

In a report released Friday morning by the Bureau of Labor Statistics that could be described only as the Republicans' worst nightmare, the economy added 243,000 jobs in January the strongest month-to-month gain since last March as the unemployment rate fell to 8.3 percent. The unemployment rate, the number of people employed, and the number unemployed were at their best levels since President Obama took office in January 2009. Economists had anticipated about 155,000 new jobs in January.

It will be at least three more days before the industry learns how many and which states have agreed to the robo-signing settlement that was proposed last week. The deadline for state attorneys general to opt in has been pushed from February 3 to February 6. A spokesperson for Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller says at least one state requested an additional business day to come to a decision, so Miller, who is head of the states' negotiating committee, moved the cut-off date to Monday.

The mortgage servicing system is badly broken and would benefit from a single set of federal standards, according to White House officials. President Obama on Wednesday introduced what he's termed the Homeowner Bill of Rights - principles that he says will ensure borrowers and lenders are playing by the same common-sense rules. These rules address disclosures, conflicts of interest posed by investors and junior lien holders, assistance for at-risk homeowners, and safeguards to prevent wrongful foreclosures.