Tag Archives: Loan Audits

The former banking regulator overseeing the National Mortgage Settlement has released a summary of the latest reports he filed with a federal court in Washington, D.C. The reports detail the performance of five major servicers in meeting the terms of the agreement reached with 49 state attorneys general and federal officials. Joseph Smith says he's confirmed six fails in the first quarter of 2013 and one in the second quarter.

Bank of America has agreed to pay Freddie Mac $404 million to be released from existing and future repurchase claims on approximately 716,000 loans originated in the last decade by BofA and sold to the GSE. The payment also compensates Freddie Mac for past and future mortgage insurance-related losses on the loans, but doesn't cover loan servicing obligations or private-label securities.

LoanLogics, a provider of loan quality management and performance analytics, announced the unveiling of its MERS Independent Third Party Performance Monitoring and Annual Review service. The specialty audit practice reviews and tests MERS controls and processes so servicers can ensure they are compliant with MERS regulations and avoid scrutiny.

As lenders prepare to adopt the Ability-to-Repay and Qualified Mortgage (QM) rules in January, so too are ratings agencies preparing for these new rules. Fitch Ratings released a report revealing its expectations for how the rules will impact future loss severities on residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS). Overall, Fitch expects the rules to result in greater underwriting uniformity and enhanced due diligence, with 100 percent of reviews completed on all QM and higher-priced QM loans.

Ally Financial is the fifth bank to reach a settlement with the federal government over soured mortgage bonds sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac prior to the housing and foreclosure crisis. The bank announced Tuesday that it settled the 2011 lawsuit brought by the Federal Housing Finance Agency over toxic mortgages. Ally also reached a separate settlement with the FDIC to resolve pending litigation related to the company's legacy mortgage dealings.

JPMorgan Chase's $4 billion settlement with the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) reached late last week ""sets a relatively high bar"" for the 13 other banks still facing litigation from the federal agency, according to Fitch Ratings, which suggested Tuesday that some of the banks may need to increase their litigation reserves before settling. The $4 billion is about 12 percent of the original face value of the private-label mortgage-backed securities for which FHFA sought damages.

Stewart Lender Services announced Tuesday that it has acquired key assets of the due diligence and credit risk management firm Allonhill. Stewart will retain all Allonhill personnel as well as Allonhill's headquarter facility in Denver and the technology developed by the Allonhill team. The acquisition strengthens Stewarts offerings by adding due diligence, loan quality reviews, compliance solutions, and servicer performance management to its suite of products provided to the mortgage servicer and investment communities.

Freddie Mac is ramping up repurchase demands and increasing the pool of defaulted loans subject to put-backs to include mortgages originated prior to the crisis in 2004 and 2005, according to U.S. Bancorp CEO Richard Davis. Speaking to investors at the Goldman Sachs Financial Services Conference this week, Davis described the news as ""unexpected,"" but Freddie Mac maintains it has always had the authority to pull files for review when loans stop performing regardless of when the loans were originated. The GSE says its repurchase policies have not changed and it is committed to working with lenders to resolve any issues.

Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt has issued the first borrower payments resulting from settlements with the nation's five largest mortgage servicers over faulty foreclosure processing. Oklahoma families who were subject to the servicers' ""unfair and deceptive practices ... following the financial crisis,"" can expect to receive their checks soon, Pruitt said. Oklahoma was the only state to craft its own agreement with Bank of America, Citi, JPMorgan Chase, GMAC/Ally, and Wells Fargo.

John Walsh, acting Comptroller of the Currency, offered an update and clarification Monday on the foreclosure reviews taking place at 14 servicers as part of the consent orders established last year. Independent foreclosure reviews are being instigated in two ways: Consultants are identifying borrowers they believe may have incurred financial harm as a result of improper processing, and borrowers themselves may request a review if they believe they were wronged by their servicers. So far, about 121,000 borrowers have requested reviews.