Reporter Kate Moran of the Times Picayune wrote a terrific article on a lawsuit the Sterbcow Law Group LLC and Melancon Rimes LLC filed on in behalf of their client and plaintiff Sarada LeBourgeois who was the victim of mortgage fraud. “Lawsuit alleges that a loan originator stole money from…
Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley has introduced two new legislative bills that the real estate industry and public need to be keenly aware of: Senate Bill 911 known as The Transparency for Homeowners Act and Senate Bill 912 known as The Promoting Mortgage Responsibility Act. Sen. Merkley believes that abolishing the…
The Obama Administration is pushing new legislation which would create a financial services regulatory commission. The commission would be called “The Financial Product Safety Commission” and it would regulate all mortgages, credit cards, and mutual funds. The Washington Post’s Zachary A. Goldfarb, Binyamin Appelbaum and David Cho wrote an article…
The Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act’s (RESPA) Section 9 (12 U.S.C. §2608) and Regulation X (§ 3500.16) prohibits, either directly or indirectly, a seller from requiring a purchaser to buy title insurance from a specific title company in any transaction as a condition of the sale. Section 9 of RESPA…
The Financial Services Committee for the House of Representatives voted to suspend the implementation of the new Good Faith Estimate (GFE) and Housing and Urban Development (HUD-1) Settlement Statement. The committee voted to amend the Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act (H.R. 1728) because the Federal Reserve Board is coming…
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama’s Southern Division handed down a decision on April 20, 2009 in the Vicki V. Busby v. JRHBW Realty, Inc. d/b/a RealtySouth case. The case centered on Section 8(b) of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) and whether Administrative Brokerage Commissions…
Freelance reporter Marcie Geffner for Bankrate.com had a story picked up by the Seattle Times’ titled “New appraisal rules may hurt home buyers” with respect to the Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC) which goes into effect on May 1, 2009. The rule which takes effect on all Freddie Mac…
The Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) has strict guidelines on Escrow Accounts under Section 10. Sec. 10 places limits on the amount of money a lender requires a borrower to hold in an escrow account for payment of taxes, homeowners insurance, flood insurance, private mortgage insurance, or any other…
Section 6 of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) provides borrowers with consumer protections relating to the servicing of their loans. When a borrower sends a “Qualified Written Request” or “QWR” to his loan servicer concerning the servicing of the loan, the loan servicer must provide a written acknowledgment…
Reporter Kristi Marohn with the St. Cloud Times wrote an excellent article, “Experts: Improper fees play part in crisis–Servicers may benefit from loans in default” on how some loan servicing companies are engaging in abusive tactics which is helping fuel mortgage defaults across the United States. The loan servicing companies…