Actions have been taken against more than 200 Federal Housing Administration mortgagees. Among the impacted mortgagees were the self-proclaimed “largest privately held lender and broker” and affiliates of Berkshire Hathaway and Goldman Sachs & Co.
A notice Friday from the Department of Housing and Urban Development indicated that the FHA Mortgagee Review Board has taken action against 240 mortgagees that failed to meet the board’s requirements over the past year. More than 2,300 administrative actions have been taken against FHA lenders since 2009, including last year’s record 1,600 actions.
A report released a year ago reflected actions against more than a thousand mortgagees between July 10, 2008, and March 18, 2010.
Among the actions outlined today was an August 2010 settlement with Vanderbilt Mortgage and Finance Inc., according to a public filing made by HUD. The Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary agreed to pay a $15,000 civil money penalty without admitting fault or liability.
“Vanderbilt submitted false certifications to HUD on its electronic annual certifications, and failed to notify HUD that it had entered into a settlement agreement and consent to entry of a consent order with the North Carolina Office of the Commissioner of Banks,” the filing stated.
A settlement was reached with Houston-based Allied Home Mortgage Corp. in October 2010. The branch operator was required to pay a $46,000 civil money penalty, “curtail the principal balance” by $1,210 on a mortgage and refund $1,495 in fees to two borrowers. In addition, Allied agreed to pay $57,443 to indemnify HUD for losses on one loan and indemnify HUD for up to five years on any losses from five other loans.
HUD said that Allied, which claims to be “the largest privately held lender and broker in the U.S.,” didn’t meet minimum underwriting requirements, improperly calculated loan amounts and charged unallowable fees. Allied also allegedly paid fees to an affiliated contract processing company in violation of requirements that the two entities be clearly and effectively separated.
A month earlier, Allied agreed to another settlement with a $38,000 civil money penalty, though it didn’t admit to doing anything wrong. At issue in that settlement was Allied’s alleged failure to pay required core operating costs for its branch offices.
As if it needed to be said, the board permanently withdrew the FHA approval of Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corp.
HUD said that 123 mortgagees failed to comply with annual recertification requirements and lost FHA approval.
Another 91 mortgagees failed to file their annual recertification requirements on time, leading to a civil money penalty of between $1,000 and $7,500. None of this group admitted fault, and all were eventually recertified. The group included Goldman Sachs Housing and Health Care Funding Co. in New York.
