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Bank of America to pay $12 million over reporting of false mortgage data

December 2,2023 | By ERICKSON J OCASIO

Fines will go into relief fund. Bank of America Corp. agreed to pay $12 million in fines for submitting false mortgage-lending information to the US government, regulators said. From early 2016 through late 2020, some of the bank’s loan officers failed to ask mortgage applicants for their race, ethnicity and sex, as required under federal law, and then falsely recorded that the customers declined to provide the information, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said in a statement Tuesday. The fines will go into the bureau’s victim-relief fund, according to a consent order. “Bank of America violated a federal law that thousands of mortgage lenders have routinely followed for decades,” CFPB Director Rohit Chopra said in the statement. “It is illegal to report false information to federal regulators, and we will be taking additional steps to ensure t

CFPB bans RMK Financial from mortgage industry for deceptive practices

February 28,2023 | By ERICKSON J OCASIO

Deceptive mortgage ads have led to a $1 million fine and a permanent ban on the company. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has dealt a decisive blow to RMK Financial Corporation (dba Majestic Home Loans) by permanently banning it from the mortgage lending industry. The ban comes after RMK repeatedly engaged in deceptive advertising practices that targeted military families, falsely implying an affiliation with the US government. In 2015, the CFPB issued an agency order against RMK for misleading advertisements to military families that implied the company was affiliated with the United States government. Despite the order, RMK engaged in a series of repeat offenses, including sending millions of mortgage advertisements to military families that deceptively used fake US Department of Veterans Affairs (V.A.) seals, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) logo, and other languag

Mortgage fraud trial looms for top prosecutor

January 18,2023 | By ERICKSON J OCASIO

Tenure was marked by high-profile decisions. With a March trial date quickly approaching in the federal perjury case against Baltimore’s former top prosecutor Marilyn Mosby, a series of rulings Tuesday created significant new hurdles for her defense team, including the possibility of criminal contempt charges against her lead attorney. Mosby left office earlier this month after serving two terms as Baltimore state’s attorney - a tenure defined by several high-profile decisions, including prosecuting the police officers involved in Freddie Gray’s 2015 death and dismissing the charges against Adnan Syed, whose case was featured on the hit podcast “Serial.” Mosby, who frequently touted her progressive policies, was defeated in a Democratic primary last year after federal prosecutors accused her of lying about experiencing pandemic-related financial hardship i

Credit Suisse to pay $495 million to settle legacy RMBS case

October 22,2022 | By ERICKSON J OCASIO

Company says it is "fully provisioned" for the payment. Credit Suisse Group AG agreed to pay $495 million to settle the largest remaining case related to its role in selling residential mortgage-backed securities in the US that contributed to the 2008 financial crisis. The Swiss bank said in a statement on Monday that it’s “fully provisioned” for the payment, which will resolve claims tied to more than $10 billion in such securities. The New Jersey Attorney General had alleged damages of $3 billion in a litigation case filed in 2013. “Credit Suisse is pleased to have reached an agreement that allows the bank to resolve the only remaining RMBS matter involving claims by a regulator and the largest of its remaining exposures on its legacy RMBS docket,” it said. Investors are closely watching the bank ahead of an Oct. 27 strategy anno

Arbitration Panel Awards Divorced Spouse Nearly $2 Million for Being Refused Loss Mitigation

October 22,2022 | By ERICKSON J OCASIO

Chicagoland Consumer Advocates' Award Against One of America's Largest Mortgage Loan Servicers Includes Compensatory, Punitive Damages and Homeowner's Attorney's Fees. Consumer lawyers Nick Wooten, Rusty A. Payton, and Adam J. Feuer, have obtained a substantial verdict for their client in a consumer fraud case against PHH Mortgage Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ocwen Financial Corporation. Ocwen denied the consumer loss mitigation and refused to follow Freddie Mac guidelines to assist homeowners going through a divorce. The award is significant because it demonstrates that Ocwen / PHH has harmed thousands of divorcing homeowners by refusing them loss mitigation during divorce as a matter of corporate policy. Policy which directly conflicts with Ocwen / PHH's obligations under Federal law and Freddie Mac guidelines. "Our client was mistr

Three more captured in massive multistate fraud scheme

July 27,2022 | By ERICKSON J OCASIO

The trio unsuccessfully sought to declare themselves immune from prosecution. ?Three more co-conspirators have been taken into custody on charges related to multi-layered mortgage fraud, credit repair, and government loan fraud scheme, the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas announced. Heather Ann Campos, David Lewis Best Jr., and Stephen Laverne Crabtree had evaded law enforcement for several months, officials said. Campos, 43, of Houston, was up for a detention hearing while Best, 56, of Spring, Texas, and Crabtree, 62, of Herriman, Utah, remained in custody pending further criminal proceedings. All three are accused of sending numerous sovereign citizen letters to federal agencies and the federal court in Houston declaring themselves immune from prosecution and refusing to recognize the authority of the federal courts, justice officials said.

New York man pleads guilty in mortgage fraud scheme

July 15,2022 | By ERICKSON J OCASIO

Case emerges amid crime spike as loan applications drop. ? A New York man has pleaded guilty for his role in a mortgage fraud scheme involving multiple mortgage loans at a multifamily complex, US Justice Department officials said Tuesday. Jacob Deutsch, 57, of Brooklyn, NY, waived his right to be indicted and pleaded guilty before US District Judge Omar A. Williams, officials said. The guilty plea was to a charge stemming from what officials described as a wide-ranging mortgage fraud scheme involving 24 mortgage loans on numerous housing properties in Harford totaling nearly $50 million, officials said. According to court documents and statements in court proceedings, Deutsch and Aron Deutsch work at B H Property Management, LLC, a property management company that manages numerous multifamily housing properties in Hartford, according to an affidavit. From September 2016 through May 2021