An “unprecedented crackdown.” That’s how Commissioner David Stevens described a get-tough program that took place under him at the Federal Housing Administration from mid-2009 until April of this year. As part of the push, the FHA’s Mortgage Review Board issued more administrative actions against lenders in Stevens’ first year than it had in the prior eight years combined.

[AMERICAN BANKER]

The American Banker–

David Stevens arrived as a commissioner at the Federal Housing Administration in 2009 vowing to restore financial discipline to a government housing body facing the stresses of a post-crash world. A former mortgage banker himself, Stevens, now 54, bolstered the agency’s finances and pursued alleged wrongdoing at nonbank lenders including Berkshire Hathaway and Goldman Sachs & Co. affiliates.

One group the FHA did not feud with during Stevens’ tenure: top industry players, such as Bank of America Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co. A collection of emails between Stevens and the Mortgage Bankers Association may help explain why.

[THE AMERICAN BANKER]

NY Times–

YOU’D think the mortgage bust would qualify as a teachable moment.

But some people refuse to learn from mistakes — a list that apparently includes certain mortgage bankers. Their industry is fighting a new rule that might prevent a repeat of the lending binge that helped drive our economy off a cliff.

In case you just arrived from another planet: America’s mortgage mania was fueled by home loans with poisonous features that made them virtually impossible to repay. It was fun while it lasted, at least for the financial types who profited by making dubious loans and selling them to investors.

[NEW YORK TIMES]

The electronic world has been the main cause of this all. This confusion would not have been made possible if they never created MERS and gave anyone (20,000+) a license to sign. No supervision, no guidance, lack of regulations…no excuses.

Two Financial Services subcommittees held a joint hearing on Thursday, July 7 to review the role of Federal regulators in the ongoing mortgage servicing settlement negotiations and the development of new mortgage servicing standards.  Witnesses included regulators from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the FDIC, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and two state attorneys general.

@ 3:12:30 Mr. Stevens: on Document Mills and Robo-Signing “Laws were violated” “Legal Violations” “Card Table with Burger King Kids” “Laws Broken by some Institutions not all”

@ 3:17:50 Mr. Manzullo: on Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems (MERS) “By-Pass local recorder” “That’s the reason now a lot of people who don’t know who owns the NOTE, don’t know who owns the mortgage” “Automation thing made it worse”

Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit
Oversight and Investigations

Click here for the Archived Webcast of this hearing.

WITNESS LIST

Panel I

Ms. Julie Williams, First Senior Deputy Comptroller and Chief Counsel, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency

Mr. Mark Pearce, Director, Division of Depositor and Consumer Protection, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

Mr. Raj Date, Associate Director of Research, Markets and Regulations, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, U.S. Department of the Treasury

Hon. Luther Strange, Alabama Attorney General

Panel II

Mr. David Stevens, President, Mortgage Bankers Association

Mr. Michael Calhoun, President, Center for Responsible Lending

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Joint Hearing To Examine Mortgage Servicing Negotiations