FTC Catches “Forensic Audit” Co. With Bogus Promises

In a far too common story the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has shut down yet another bogus Forensic Audit Company (see below).

It is important that consumers understand that most companies will tell you what you want to hear to get your dollars into their pockets. “Forensic Auditing” better described as Compliance Auditing is not a new and powerful tool that will stop your lender from foreclosing. In fact your lender uses the same “quality control” tool as a requirement to sell loans to FHA and to ensure that their portfolios have minimal risk to Secondary Market Investors.

We have heard numerous audit companies make claims that they are “experts” or that they wrote the book on mortgage securitization. Again, be careful what you believe in or throw your hard earned money after. There are experienced auditors, but those that wrote the book on mortgage securitization are enjoying a very luxurious life of traveling, skiing, and painting; while we the “common” people work through the mess.

Forensic, Compliance, Mortgage, and/or Loan Audits are just the facts. If you find one or several violations in your loan through research or an Audit you will not be automatically entitled to anything, nor will your lender be forced to give you preferential treatment. Your mortgage is a legally binding agreement between you and your lender. Do not take any action in regards to your property without first consulting a competent Legal professional.

Get The Facts, Audit Your Loan and Protect Your Rights!

...
The defendants behind an operation that allegedly preyed on vulnerable homeowners have agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that they lured people into paying $1,995 or more by holding out bogus promises that they could help them avoid foreclosure and renegotiate their mortgages.

The FTC’s settlement order against the Los Angeles, California-based Consumer Advocates Group Experts, LLC, company owner Ryan Zimmerman, and two other related companies is part of the agency’s continuing crackdown on scams that target consumers in financial distress. It bans the defendants from marketing any mortgage assistance relief or other debt relief products or services. It also prohibits them from making misleading claims about any financial product or service, or any other type of product or service.

To see entire FTC Article goto http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2013/02/cag.shtm

______________________


Mortgage Loan Compliance The Forensic Loan Audit Company

Proven Results That Work - Get The Facts, Audit Your Loan, Sue Your Lender and Protect Your Rights!

Call Today 1-866-966-6615 or Visit www.ml-compliance.com

McGraw-Hill and S&P Sued For Securitization Credit Ratings Fraud

In federal court yesterday the U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) filed a complaint accusing McGraw-Hill and S&P of mail fraud, wire fraud and financial institutions fraud.  According to the complaint, S&P falsely represented to investors that its credit ratings were objective, independent and uninfluenced by any conflicts of interests.  Under the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act of 1989, the DOJ seeks civil penalties of as much as $1.1 million for each violation.

S&P issued credit ratings on more than $2.8 trillion worth of residential mortgage-backed securities and about $1.2 trillion worth of collateralized-debt obligations from September 2004 through October 2007, according to the complaint. S&P downplayed the risks on portions of the securities to gain more business from the investment banks that issued them, the U.S. said.

Most “Credit Rating” firms have faced criticism from U.S. lawmakers over how they granted top grades to securities that packaged home loans from the riskiest borrowers, leading to the Mortgage Crisis of 2007, that sent the economy into its longest recession since 1933 as defaults soared and U.S. home values plummeted.

 _______________________

Mortgage Loan Compliance | The Forensic Loan Audit Company

Proven Results That Work - Get The Facts, Audit Your Loan, Sue Your Lender and Protect Your Rights!

Call Today 1-866-966-6615 or Visit www.ml-compliance.com

Has Access For All To Mortgage Credit Ever Been The “Right Track”?

The homeownership boom that began in the mid-1990s was remarkable for its depth and breadth, but these gains were not evenly shared. Even in the mid-1990s, there was growing concern about the significant gaps between the homeownership rates of racial/ethnic minorities and non- Hispanic whites. Census Bureau figures for 1995 indicated that the homeownership rate was only 42.9 percent among African-American households and 42.0 percent among Hispanic households, nearly 30 percentage points lower than that of non-Hispanic whites. The housing boom did little to change this disparity - the gap in homeownership rates between the minority households and non-Hispanic whites narrowed by about 7 percentage points as policymakers failed to confront the underlying structural factors-growing income inequality and the vestiges of discrimination- perpetuating the gap.


The Harvard Joint Center of Housing Studies recently released a study on the impact of the housing crisis on low-income and minority communities and what can be done to improve their access to mortgage credit going forward. The paper, Getting on the Right Track: Improving Low-Income and Minority Access to Mortgage Credit after the Housing Bust looks at some factors, particularly leading up to the crash, that are not normally brought forward in the seeming endless discussions of the topic, or at least not in quite the same way.


Expansion of homeownership opportunities has been viewed as an important step in reducing inequality in the distribution of income and wealth, but the study says what actually fueled the growth of lower-income and minority lending was a bank/non-bank dual mortgage delivery system. Low income and minority borrowers were targeted by different types of lenders and steered to a different mix of products than commonly found in higher-income markets; products that typically had higher interest rates and less favorable terms than the conventional prime loans available in the mainstream market.


These loans were highly profitable for both primary and secondary market participants, prompting a surge in private label asset-backed securities (PLS) which opened the door to mass securitization of nontraditional mortgage products. Particularly in the case of nonprime residential mortgages, the PLS market suffered from weaker lending standards and more limited counterparty controls and loans were sold to investors that, unless they had capital requirements, did not have to hold any particular level of funds to cover losses.


When house price appreciation slowed and mortgage defaults mounted the collapse of the PLS market triggered a mortgage market meltdown that rocked the world. The resulting constriction of mortgage credit and the mounting wave of foreclosures quickly eliminated the homeownership gains achieved earlier in the decade and bought widespread devastation to the many lower-income and minority communities where subprime lending had been concentrated.


Despite the view of homeownership as the American dream, its direct and indirect contribution to numerous positive outcomes and that it can enable a household to secure decent housing for a relatively low monthly payment, homeownership is not necessarily the best choice for all individuals and families at all times and many households fail to weigh the benefits and costs of ownership. For example, a basic tenet of financial management is that families should diversify their assets; homeownership does the exact opposite by concentrating assets into the purchase of a home while putting the homeowner into a highly leveraged position which could magnify the risk of price declines.


While the paper is a comprehensive account of the growth of the housing boom, and interweaves narratives of how seemingly unrelated actions on the part of all market participants were interwoven into what was finally a devastating collapse. The paper is long but worth attention.


Get The Facts Audit Your Loan and Protect Your Rights!

_______________________

Mortgage Loan Compliance | The Forensic Loan Audit Company

Proven Results That Work - Get The Facts, Audit Your Loan, Sue Your Lender and Protect Your Rights!

Call Today 1-866-966-6615 or Visit www.ml-compliance.com

BofA Pays $1 Billion, $8.5 Billion, $11.7 Billion, But No Wrong-Doing

A deal was struck yesterday to settle lending complaints, sell rights to service $300 billion of mortgages and repair relations between Regulators and Bank of America. The $11.7 billion agreement will hopefully resolve most disputes with Fannie Mae, even though BofA CEO Brian Moynihan said the bank “largely addressed” the liabilities just two years ago. Bank of America sold the rights to service about 2 million mortgages, and with 9 other banks, will pay $8.5 billion to end reviews of foreclosure-abuse claims stemming from a 2011 deal with regulators.



In the settlement announced yesterday, Bank of America will make a $3.6 billion cash payment, spend $6.75 billion to buy back residential loans sold to Fannie Mae, and pay $1.3 billion in fees for taking too long to assist or foreclose on overdue borrowers, according to separate statements.



In a separate settlement, 10 of the largest U.S. mortgage servicers, including Bank of America, agreed to pay a combined $8.5 billion of foreclosure abuse claims from the 2011 deal with regulators, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and Federal Reserve said in a statement yesterday. BofA will account for about $2.9 billion of the settlement, according industry sources. About $1.1 billion of the expenses are in cash payments and $1.8 billion comes in the form of assistance for distressed homeowners.



These numbers may seem boring but this tells the “American Story” very well. All these monies are to fix “abuse” and “negligence” claims yet no wrong doing or jail time for anyone. I guess the best way for a homeowner to resolve their issues would be to follow suit. Audit your loan, then sue the lender! It seems to really work for Fannie, Freddie, the OCC, and the Fed.

_______________________

Mortgage Loan Compliance | The Forensic Loan Audit Company

Proven Results That Work - Get The Facts, Audit Your Loan, Sue Your Lender and Protect Your Rights!

Call Today 1-866-966-6615 or Visit www.ml-compliance.com

Forensic and Securitization Audits – Proven Results

“Rules are made to be broken” or so the saying goes, but in reality, especially in a homeowners’ reality, rules are made to be followed and enforced. Forensic Audits actually highlight the rules that were not followed during loan origination and Securitization Audits shed light on rules that need to be enforced as a loan is sold time and again. Since our founding in 2005, Mortgage Loan Compliance®, has been strong advocates for lending compliance and mortgage regulations. Our audit services are thorough and easy to understand. Homeowners, as well as Bankruptcy, Litigation, and Foreclosure Defense Attorneys rely on us for detailed reports to help get settlements, as well as stopping or delaying the foreclosure process. Although Pro Se or Self-Help Litigants are not seeing as much traction as those who use attorneys the foreclosure numbers prove that getting the facts on your loan and fighting your lender is actually working.

In states like Florida it now takes on average 858 days to foreclose according to statistics from RealtyTrac. But further up the coast the amount of time is even longer. New Jersey for instance is 931 days to complete a foreclosure process and New York is 1,072 days nearly 3 years. Across the nation the average is 385, which is twice as long as it took for the robo-signing, fraudulent “pretender” lenders and servicers to bull-doze people from their homes at the start of the Mortgage Crisis. At the end of 2007 the average time to complete a foreclosure was less than 5 months, or 140 days to be exact.

Some banks and critics will say that the delay provides no benefit to the borrower and only destroys property values, but try convincing the single mom who had a financial hardship and was able to find the loopholes to stay in her home for and care for her family the last 3 years otherwise. Foreclosure processing times are generally longest in state where the courts are involved in finalizing the process – judicial states. With the help of your Attorney any foreclosure can become judicial by simply filing a lawsuit seeking damages for the broken rules your audit uncovers.

Again rules are rules and a homeowner should always double check their loan paperwork, even those who take out loans today. It goes without saying that during the holiday season everyone is sure to check their receipt from the local toy store to ensure the mark-down was properly credited and all items were in the bag. Do the same with your home loan and get the facts.

Have you reviewed your loan yet? Get The Facts!
_______________________

Mortgage Loan Compliance | The Forensic Loan Audit Company

Proven Results That Work - Get The Facts, Audit Your Loan, Sue Your Lender and Protect Your Rights!

Call Today 1-866-966-6615 or Visit www.ml-compliance.com

Fannie Suspends Evictions For The Holidays, Not Foreclosures

Fannie Mae announced December 3, 2012 that legal and administrative proceedings for evictions may continue, but families living in foreclosed properties will be allowed to remain in the home during the holidays. Evictions of foreclosed single family and 2-4 unit properties will be halted from December 19, 2012 through January 2, 2013.

"We're taking this step in support of families who have faced financial challenges and gone through a foreclosure," said Terry Edwards, Executive Vice President of Credit Portfolio Management, Fannie Mae. "The holidays are a chance to be with loved ones and we want to relieve some stress at this time of year. We encourage homeowners having difficulty to reach out for help as soon as possible."

Previously, Fannie Mae announced a temporary suspension of foreclosure sales and evictions in areas designated for individual assistance by FEMA due to Hurricane Sandy. That 90-day suspension will last through February 1, 2013.

Homeowners can visit www.knowyouroptions.com for resources on how to prevent foreclosure, including contact information for Fannie Mae’s 12 Mortgage Help Centers located across the country.

_______________________

Mortgage Loan Compliance
The Forensic Loan Audit Company

Proven Results That Work - Get The Facts, Audit Your Loan, Sue Your Lender and Protect Your Rights!

Call Today 1-866-966-6615 or Visit www.ml-compliance.com

FHA Troubles – Taxpayer Bailout Possible

A independent audit to be released on today projects that the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), a government agency that insures mortgages, will not have the cash reserves to pay all of its obligations, with the total shortfall amounting to about $16.3 billion.

“This does not mean F.H.A. has insufficient cash to pay insurance claims, a current operating deficit or will need to immediately draw funds from the Treasury,” the report stressed.

FHA insures more than $1 trillion in mortgages, but its reserves fell to below $3 billion last year making a Taxpayer bailout very likely. The coming report cites a number of additional weaknesses on the agency’s books.

“We will continue to take aggressive steps to protect F.H.A.’s financial health while ensuring that F.H.A. continues to perform its historic role of providing access to homeownership for underserved communities and supporting the housing market during tough economic times,” said Carol J. Galante, its acting commissioner, in a statement.

The F.H.A. “has weathered the storm of the recent economic and housing crisis by taking the most aggressive and sweeping actions in its history to reform risk management, credit policy, lender enforcement and consumer protections,” Shaun Donovan, the secretary of housing and urban development, said in a statement.

Politicians in Washington, particularly Republicans, have voiced concerns that the agency could become a drain on the taxpayer, much like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Those two mortgage finance giants have not required additional taxpayer funding in recent quarters, as the housing market has stabilized. But they have nevertheless received about $190 billion in federal financing in the last four years.

An agency release cites three reasons for its deteriorating financial position. Home prices have not risen as quickly as the administration’s actuaries expected. Low interest rates have weakened its books. The agency’s independent actuary used a “refined methodology this year to more precisely predict” its losses.

More broadly, the agency is still struggling from the burst of the real estate bubble. By many measures, housing prices have only recently started to stabilize and increase. The rate of foreclosures remains high.

_______________________

Mortgage Loan Compliance
The Forensic Loan Audit Company

Proven Results That Work - Get The Facts, Audit Your Loan, Sue Your Lender and Protect Your Rights!

Call Today 1-866-966-6615 or Visit www.ml-compliance.com