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| Several states have taken a range of actions against individual and company mortgage licensees.
Hawaii’s Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs announced disciplinary actions it took last year against professional licensees, according to a recent announcement. “These disciplinary actions include dispositions based upon either the results of contested case hearings or settlement agreements submitted by the parties,” the department said. Among the actions was one taken in November against Star Financial LLC and Craig Wong. The state placed Star’s license on probation for six months, according to the announcement. In addition, Star will have to pay a $2,000 fine. In Georgia regulators have issued cease and desist orders to three brokers and one brokerage firm. A final order from the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance has been issued to PFS Mortgage of Alpharetta, Ga., “for misrepresenting or concealing information concerning mortgage transactions, as well as engaging in a course of business not in good faith.” Orders for similar reasons were also issued to brokers Jabari King of Atlanta and Paula Taylor of Rosewell. The state issued a final order against Mary E. Murray “after it obtained evidence that (she) engaged in mortgage brokering/lending activities without a license or under an applicable exception,” according to a statement from the department. A cease and desist order issued by the department against Nations Direct Financial LLC of Laguna Niguel, CA. Regulators said in a statement they obtained evidence that the company “engaged in mortgage brokerage (and) lending activities without a license or under an applicable exception.” The company did not return a phone call to comment. A Web site for Nations Direct Financial can be accessed but none of the links on the page, including paths to contact the company and learn more about it, are working. Nations Direct bills itself as “the leader in foreclosure alternatives.” The Connecticut State Banking Commissioner suspended the license of bankrupt Mortgage Lenders Network USA as “the result of an on-going investigation into the possible violations” of state laws, the department said in a statement. “The order calls for (the company’s) first and second mortgage loan licenses to be suspended subject to the outcome of a hearing conducted by the Department of Banking,” according to the statement. The subprime lender, which shuttered its wholesale operation then made a failed attempt to revive it, was accused of not funding loan proceeds in a timely manner or otherwise mishandling more than 1,500 loans. The company faces hefty fines and penalties of nearly $8 million. Regulators in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Michigan are also cracking down on the company’s alleged violations — though these actions will have little impact now. |
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