ADELANTO, CA, UNITED STATES, June 26, 2023/EINPresswire.com/ — Deonne Berry, a homeowner struggling with financial difficulties exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, found solace in the compassionate services provided by the Nonprofit Alliance of Consumer Advocates. Through their diligent efforts and unwavering commitment, Ms. Berry successfully obtained a free loan modification, allowing her to retain her cherished property.

Ms. Berry’s situation was dire, with her mortgage payments falling behind by an alarming 13 months. The economic repercussions of the pandemic had dealt her a heavy blow, leaving her searching for assistance to navigate the complex world of mortgage modification. However, other businesses she approached demanded substantial fees for their services, pushing her deeper into distress.

Determined to find a solution that aligned with her goal of keeping her property, Ms. Berry turned to the internet in search of reputable nonprofit organizations specializing in mortgage aid. It was during her search that she stumbled upon the Nonprofit Alliance of Consumer Advocates—an organization renowned for its exceptional A+ Better Business Bureau (BBB) rating and stellar 5-star reviews on Google.

To continue reading the rest of the article, please click on the source link below:

https://www.einnews.com/pr_news/641589247/the-nonprofit-alliance-of-consumer-advocates-helps-homeowner-secure-free-loan-modification-amidst-financial-hardship

Foreclosure occurs when a lender takes possession of your home and sells it to try to recoup some or all of the debt owing. The lender has the legal right to start the foreclosure process if you stop paying your repayments. Even if the lender has started the foreclosure action, there are certain strategies you can use during the which was before phase to try to avoid losing your house. Most individuals are unaware that they can avoid foreclosure even if they have fallen behind on their mortgage payments. This necessitates also a complete mortgage audit or assessment of the credit agreement alone, and also a legal appraisal in light of the difficulties highlighted by loan restructuring. In furthermore, a full “investigative” evaluation must take into account the sequence and the assessment. Most agencies’ present Approved Documented File, as well as the methodologies and analysis of the mortgage process in a single procedure, date back before privatization.

This is not legal advice.
Short-term rental

Users must sell your property even if it is in the pre-foreclosure stage. If you sell the property before the lender schedules an auction and after they submit a Notice, the lender may evaluate it. In the event of a foreclosure, the lender will turn around and sell the property; if you make them a pre – foreclosure offer, they might see that as a way to save effort, energy, and problems finding a decent purchaser in a weak economy.

Reinstatement

When a debtor “reinstates” a mortgage debt, they or person pays down all previous sums inside one cash payment, effectively stopping a foreclosure. The consumer resumes paying monthly loan payments after a mortgage restoration.

Using a Loan Payoff to Repay the Lender in Full

An option is to pay off the entire loan balance to avoid a foreclosure sale. You will no longer have a balance with the lender after paying off the mortgage, and you will not be needed to make any extra payments. Homeowners avoid foreclosure typically find it challenging to generate up with the funds to repay down their loans. Bare in mind that so many creditors offer consumers who are having trouble making their mortgage payments other options than foreclosure, such as debt consolidation.

When does the servicer have to provide a payback portion?

According to federal law, the servicer must submit a payment document within five working days of receiving a demand. There are some exceptions, such as whether the loan is in bankruptcy or foreclosure, if the property is an opposite mortgage, or if you did not obey the servicer’s discharge demand procedures. If an individual passes, the servicer is required to furnish the payout report in a timely manner.

The loan must be paid off by a certain date.

In most cases, you must obtain a payment quote at most 3 – 5 working days after you intend to pay. The foreclosure sales will proceed if you do not produce the payoff cash just before foreclosure auction. As a result, making the deposit that before the foreclosure sale is set is probably a good idea. One may lose your freedom if the money do not materialize prior to the actual transaction due to a financial transaction fault or other delay.

So What was the Purpose of a Forensic Loan Audit?

A forensic loan audit allegedly examines the paperwork from the time you thought out your mortgage to check if the lender followed the law. If the audit uncovers law infractions, you might possibly use the findings to pressure the lender into a revision.

Typically organisations, however, do this type of audit by lowering processor input client data into a compliance software application, which then generates a very rudimentary report. In the vast majority of cases, no or minor errors are discovered. The salesman may claim that the conclusions behind such an audit will compel the mortgage lender to make an adjustment, although this is generally the case.

Audit of forensic loans

You can acquire a full forensic loan audit for your loan by hiring forensic loan auditors. Such auditing entails a scientific examination of your loan that identifies any infractions of federal, state, or local regulations committed by your creditors while granting the loan to you.

Forensic mortgage auditors have been trained to conduct such in-depth examinations of mortgage papers. As a result, they can discover any mortgage-related infractions. They are the most qualified to perform a forensic mortgage audit.

What Is a Securitization Audit, and Why Do You Need One?

Numerous mortgages having similar characteristics are aggregated and sold on the secondary market, usually to a corporation, in a procedure termed as “collateralized debt obligations.” A foreclosure audit is designed to identify as to if your credit was backed securities and, if so, whether it was properly sold to investors.

However, most subprime audit just provide national data and draw unsubstantiated legal assumptions that aren’t important when attempting to get your loan changed.

The following items may be included in a mortgage modification:

• A decrease in the rate of interest or a change in the interest rate.
• The fundamental is being reduced.
• Late fees and penalties for non-payment are reduced or eliminated.
• A decrease in the monthly payment.
• To momentarily halt making payments or extend the time for making payments, forbearance is used.
• For both lenders and borrowers, loan modification is by far the most favoured technique of dealing with foreclosure.

Ways to Stop Being a Product of a Settlement or Foreclosure Crisis Scam

Or how to avoid falling prey to a reverse mortgage or debt relief fraud.

Paying a customization firm instead of your provider is a bad idea.

Customers are often advised to accept the alteration firm’s fee rather than paying their monthly repayments; this really is a major red flag. The vendor may collect your money and then fail to get you a modification (or not even try), putting you even further behind on your installments.

Be wary of fraudulent emails purporting to be from foreclosure relief firms.

Hackers may send you communications claiming to be able to help you with your mortgage, but they may include dangerous suspicious links to fake websites designed to deceive you into divulging personal information. Do not open email attachments or click on links in unsolicited emails. Any email from an anonymous person or any communication that appears strange, even if it is from person you know, should be discarded immediately viewing.

Don’t pay any fees up ahead.

Steer wary of any alteration firm that asks for a large upfront payment. Numerous jurisdictions and the national govt restrict modification businesses from raising funds before providing services, as well as impose additional limits on foreclosure relief.

Ascertain that the bank is a genuine independent investigator. If it isn’t, it has no legal authority to foreclose. If your loan has been securitized, for example, your original lender has already been compensated. The debt should be regarded settled at that point. It is recommended that you conduct a securitization audit in order to verify that your lender profited from the securitization of your mortgage. A third-party investigator completes the audit by chasing down your loan and providing you with a court-admissible document proving that your loan has indeed been securitized.

On major concerns, he did not follow state processes (described above). A winning lawsuit on these grounds would require the bank to start over, giving them vital time to come up with a solution.
The foreclosure proceedings entity is unable to establish footing, or that it owns the loan. The bank or lender must present the loan agreement, which may be difficult if the loan has been sold two to three times.

In the administration of the loan, there used to be a serious error. It’s a big deal if you make a mistake on the amount you have to pay to get your mortgage reinstated.

The deadline for filing a claim has gone. The defence is strong if the lender did not act within the necessary period here between time you ceased making payments and the action.

A false oath or statement was employed by the borrower.

Why Should You Have Your Mortgage Audited?

A mortgage audit is a thorough investigation of numerous loan applications and statements in order to expose illegal creditor payments caused by incorrect interest payments, monthly payments, payments, or loan amounts. Lending evaluations also disclose concealed, unconstitutional, or unnecessary fees, as well as infringement of government loan standards such as TILA, Support from different, HOEPA, and bandit loans. Mortgage audits may be beneficial to householders who are concerned about erroneous charges, errors in judgment, or unauthorized fees, or who are having their mortgages notarized, and whose loans are being altered. Homeowners can use the audit findings to claim repayment from their lender for reimbursement, errors in judgment, or other infractions of federal licensing regulations. It’s important to keep in mind that any mortgage can have flaws that result in additional costs. Examples include fixed and changeable financing costs, home mortgages, and reverse mortgage loans. A mortgage check is a quick and easy way for homeowners to examine the accuracy of their creditors’ estimates, which can help them win a lawsuit and recover a creditor refund for any overhead charges. The owner will receive a comprehensive inspection and will immediately know if he was overcharged.

Mortgage Process Automation from the Viewpoint of Mortgage Auditors

In the mortgage industry, innovation is assisting in the improvement of communication between depositors and investors. Mortgage Audits have also been modified thanks to technological advancements. Digitalisation is changing the mortgages CRM market, as we covered in our previous article, Digitization of the Mortgage Sector.

• The Mortgage Tenure and the Auditing Standards are Changing

  With in mortgage market, technology is crucial in decreasing the added costs of audits. Artificial (AI) and Machine Code (ML) algorithms are critical technologies for Mortgage Process Automation. It creates real-time reports, automates quality control operations, and reduces human procedures by 40%. Deep learning could be used by lenders to recognise records and assess precision, helping them to execute loans faster.

• Seek legal counsel.

  The most important thing to do but if you are even on your mortgage, so according specialists at home, is to contact with your lenders. If you are unable to settle the loan or have received a foreclosure notice, please contact your lender or lender. You can come up with a fresh payment strategy.

• Loan Servicing Company

  The loan servicer is in charge of delivering you mortgage repayments records, paying bills, monitoring your escrow account, and responding to your inquiries.

  It’s possible that your servicer isn’t the same company that gave you your loan. Your lender may sell the servicing rights to your loan, and you may not even be able to choose who handles your debt.

• Veterans Administration loans are available.

  Veterans and active-duty military people are qualified for VA loans. Veterans Affairs (VA) loans are a benefit of service for those who have served in the military and are insured by the Department of Human Services. VA loans provide the advantage of allowing you to buy a home with no money down and no mortgage insurance.

  Analyse each information to make sure that it is accurate and comprehensive. Compare wages and employment statements to the amounts mentioned on the application by the mortgagee, or the interest rate reported on the application to the interest rate declared on the closing paperwork by the mortgagee. Look for any information that is missing or incorrect.

  Examine the documents for compliance with the national Home mortgage Disclosure Act.

This is not legal advice, this is written for entertainment purposes.

The home-buying process can feel like an obstacle course — finding the perfect place, putting together an offer and, the biggest hurdle of all, securing a mortgage.

San Francisco-based real-estate technology company Doma is helping prospective homeowners clear that hurdle more quickly with the support of AI. Its machine learning models accelerate properties through the title search, underwriting and closing processes, helping complete home transactions up to 15 percent faster.

“There’s a lot of paperwork involved in this process,” said Brian Holligan, director of data science at Doma. “The better we are at using machine learning to identify different document types and extract relevant information, the faster and more seamless the process can be.”

Doma uses machine learning to identify different types of real estate documents and extract insights from those files. It’s also developing natural language understanding models to help everyone involved in a real estate transaction — from loan officers to real estate agents to homebuyers — rapidly interpret the numerous requests and inquiries that typically occur during the process.

To continue reading the rest of the article, please click on the source link below:

https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2022/05/31/doma-real-estate-technology/

On President’s Day, just over 10 million homeowners got an extra benefit when President Joe Biden extended the moratorium on home foreclosures through June 30, intended to address the housing affordability crisis and aid homeowners struggling during COVID-19.

The moratorium on foreclosures, in place since last March under President Donald Trump, was previously extended in Biden’s series of executive actions on his first day in office.

https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-helps-10-million-homeowners-by-extending-moratorium-home-foreclosures-2021-2

The Federal Reserve Board on Friday announced the termination of enforcement actions related to residential mortgage loan servicing and foreclosure processing issued in 2011 and 2012 against 10 banking organizations. The Board also announced civil money penalties totaling $35.1 million against five of these 10 organizations that had not yet been fined for their mortgage servicing deficiencies related to those enforcement actions.

When it issued the mortgage servicing enforcement actions, the Board announced that it believed monetary penalties were appropriate for all firms subject to the actions for their mortgage servicing deficiencies. The Board previously assessed penalties against the other firms under mortgage servicing enforcement actions. With the penalties announced today, the Board has now assessed penalties totaling approximately $1.1 billion against all Federal Reserve supervised firms under mortgage servicing enforcement actions.

The 10 banking organizations are: Ally Financial Inc.; Bank of America Corporation; CIT Group, Inc. (as successor to IMB HoldCo LLC); The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.; HSBC North America Holdings, Inc.; JPMorgan Chase & Co.; Morgan Stanley; The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc.; SunTrust Banks, Inc.; and U.S. Bancorp. The actions required all of the firms to improve oversight of residential mortgage loan servicing and required the firms with mortgage servicing subsidiaries supervised by the Federal Reserve to correct deficiencies in residential mortgage loan servicing and foreclosure processing. The termination of the actions was based on evidence of sustainable improvements in the firms’ oversight and mortgage servicing practices.

In addition, the Board announced the termination of a supplemental agreement with Ally, issued in 2012 after Ally’s mortgage servicing subsidiaries sought bankruptcy protection, which addressed the parent company’s contingent obligations under the 2011 enforcement action against Ally. This agreement is no longer necessary after the termination of the 2011 action announced on Friday.

The civil money penalties announced today are: $14 million against Goldman Sachs; $8 million against Morgan Stanley; $5.2 million against CIT (as successor to IMB); $4.4 million against U.S. Bancorp; and $3.5 million against PNC.

Also on Friday, the Board announced the termination by the Board and other federal financial regulatory agencies of joint enforcement actions issued in 2011 against Lender Processing Services, Inc. (LPS), which was succeeded by ServiceLink Holdings, LLC, and against MERSCORP Holdings, Inc., formerly known as MERSCORP, Inc. (MERS). These enforcement actions addressed deficiencies in the foreclosure-related services LPS and MERS each provided to entities regulated by the agencies. The Board, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation are parties to the action against LPS. Each of these agencies as well as the Federal Housing Finance Agency are parties to the action against MERS. The termination of the actions was based on evidence of sustainable improvements in the foreclosure-related practices of LPS and MERS.

For media inquiries, call 202-452-2955.

San Francisco Chronicle-

Last March, Dorothy DeBose was given 10 minutes to clear her belongings out of the home she lived in for most of her life.

Fortune-

JPMorgan Chase has been routing customer orders for bitcoin -related instruments, a spokesman said on Monday, despite the bank’s chief executive’s calling the crypto currency “a fraud.”

Like other Wall Street banks, JPMorgan acts as an agent for buyers and sellers of Bitcoin XBT, an exchange-traded note designed to track the value of the crypto currency.

JPMorgan does not take positions in the instrument with its own capital and routes the orders electronically to exchanges, JPMorgan spokesman Brian Marchiony said.

“They are not JPMorgan orders,” Marchiony said. “These are clients purchasing third-party products directly.”

[FORTUNE]

A behind-the-scenes effort of Wall Street banks to take over the mortgage market is driven by advocates who switch between roles in Washington and the private sector.

NYT-

Seven years after their dubious lending practices helped push the United States economy to the brink of disaster, the nation’s largest banks are closing in on a long-sought goal: to unseat Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage finance giants, and capture their share of the profits in the country’s $5.7 trillion home loan market.

Taking place largely behind the scenes, the movement to take over the mortgage market has been propelled in part by a revolving door between Washington and Wall Street, an investigation by The New York Times has found.

While the big banks’ effort to enshrine their vision into law has failed so far, plans to replace Fannie and Freddie — which have long supported the housing market by playing a unique role as so-called government-sponsored enterprises, or G.S.E.s — are still very much alive. The Obama administration has largely embraced the idea, and government regulators are being pushed to put crucial elements into effect.

[NEW YORK TIMES]

WFTV-

The Port Orange family who called Action 9 after their home was sold at an HOA foreclosure auction won’t be kicked out after all.

They lost their home after failing to pay just $1,900 in association fees.

The couple’s attorney had filed a motion to vacate the sale as a long shot.

[WFTV]

Something tells me he obviously knew what was about to go on with robo-signing! So let the storm calm down and reacquire it…simple.

Jacksonville-

Nearly a year after reacquiring Lender Processing Services Inc., Fidelity National Financial Inc. Chairman Bill Foley wonders why the company ever got rid of LPS in the first place.

“Why we did that and how we let LPS get away from FNF, because that’s why we moved here to start with, we still are kind of mystified by that,” Foley said at an “Investor Day” presentation at the company’s Jacksonville headquarters Dec. 4.

Fidelity, which is mainly a title insurance company, bought the company that became LPS from Alltel Corp. in 2003 and then moved its headquarters from California to LPS’ offices in Jacksonville.

[JACKSONVILLE]

image: Jacksonville

KPC NEWS-

A real estate database company has used information from the DeKalb County Recorder’s Office without paying, and the county may consider taking legal action, county officials said Monday.

Lender Processing Services allegedly used more than 315,000 images from DeKalb County, County Recorder Katie Firestone told the DeKalb County commissioners Monday. She said using the images normally would come with a price tag of $1 per image.

[KPC NEWS] subscription needed

Truth Out-

After learning that his home was in foreclosure in July 2013, James Cheeseman received an even more unpleasant surprise when he showed up in court the following January. He was told that his mortgage loan had been sold by JP Morgan Chase and purchased by a company he had never heard of before – LVS Financial.

Cheeseman had already applied for a loan modification from Chase and says he was still awaiting a response when the loan sale occurred – a move that he and his attorney argue violates New York State foreclosure laws. Cheeseman says that the new servicer, BSI Financial, then required him to fill out a whole new loan modification application. In mid-September, he learned that he had been denied.

Though he is asking the court for another shot at a modification, this curveball has caused considerable distress for Cheeseman, 47, and his mother Constance, 75, who have resided in the New York home that they co-own for five years.

“I was shocked; I thought that [the resale of bundles of bad loans] was over,” he says. “That’s what got the country into trouble in the 2008 [mortgage crisis]. But lo and behold, it’s still going on.”

[TRUTH-OUT]

WMUR-

A 17-year-old legally blind girl’s written plea for help halted the foreclosure auction of her family home in Manchester.

Lindsey Vachon suffers from a series of genetic conditions so rare that she is only one of five people in the world who has them. With just hours left before their house could be sold, Lindsey and her mother, Lynn Vachon, were in court trying to avert disaster.

A lawyer filed a motion Tuesday afternoon to stop the process less than 18 hours before the house was supposed to go up for sale.

“The foreclosure and the auction just became too big,” Lynn Vachon said. “Too big for me to help or understand or take care of, and then my hero stepped in.”

[WMUR]

Whoa whoa whoa whoa… you can’t make this shit up!

FORBES-

A Nevada judge has ordered the state’s attorney general to pay legal and discovery costs to Lender Processing Services after the state failed to come up with evidence supporting a lawsuit accusing the firm of defrauding homeowners, an attorney for LPS said.

The order represents an extremely rare case of a judge finding the state’s highest legal officer acted improperly, said Mitchell Berger with Berger Singerman, a Florida lawyer perhaps most famous for representing Al Gore in his post-election disputes in 2000.

“I have been practing law for 34 years,” Berger said. “I’ve been around the block. And I’ve never seen an attorney general sanctioned.”

[FORBES]

Fidelity National Financial, Inc. announced the reorganization of the former Lender Processing Services, Inc. (“LPS”) businesses, the formation of a wholly-owned subsidiary called Black Knight Financial Services, Inc. (“Black Knight”) and the issuance of a 35% interest in each of Black Knight’s two operating subsidiaries, ServiceLink Holdings, LLC (“ServiceLink”) and Black Knight Financial Services, LLC (“BKFS”), to funds affiliated with Thomas H. Lee Partners, L.P. and certain related entities.  Black Knight, through ServiceLink and BKFS, now owns and operates the former LPS businesses and FNF’s ServiceLink business.  FNF’s core operating subsidiaries now consist of Fidelity National Title Group, Inc. and Black Knight. 

BKFS consists of LPS’ former technology, data and analytics businesses and the technology offerings previously owned by FNF’s ServiceLink division. BKFS’ primary products and services include:

• Empower^®, PCLender^® and LendingSpace^® – enterprise-wide loan origination systems that support the correspondent, wholesale and retail markets
• RealEC^® – electronically connects mortgage lenders and their business partners, and supports the company’s loan quality offerings
• MSP^® – the leading residential mortgage servicing technology platform in the U.S.
• LPS Desktop® and Fusion – comprehensive workflow platforms that support mortgage servicing
• The world’s largest U.S. property database, that covers 99.9% of U.S. property records from over 3,000 counties
• Most comprehensive mortgage performance data – represents nearly 70 percent of loans in the mortgage industry and provides the broadest breadth and depth of any single loan-level data source
• Industry-leading analytics – Provide valuable insight that helps effectively manage risk, support regulatory compliance and improve decision-making

The name Black Knight Services, a nod to Fidelity National Chairman William “Bill” Foley’s alma mater at Army.

FTC Puts Conditions on Fidelity National Financial’s Acquisition of Lender Processing Services

Fidelity Required to Sell Title Plant Assets in Six Oregon Counties and the Portland Metropolitan Area

For Release
December 24, 2013

Fidelity National Financial, Inc. has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that its proposed $2.9 billion acquisition of Lender Processing Services, Inc. (LPS) would likely substantially lessen competition by combining the firms’ title plant assets in several local markets in Oregon.

To preserve competition, the proposed settlement requires Fidelity to sell a copy of LPS’s title plants in six Oregon counties and an ownership interest equivalent to LPS’s share of a jointly owned title plant in the Portland, Oregon, metropolitan area. These divestitures are designed to counteract the likely anticompetitive effects of the transaction, while preserving any efficiencies that might arise from the combination of Fidelity and LPS.

Title plants are databases used by abstractors, title insurers, title insurance agents, and others to determine the title status of real property. Title plant users access this information to establish the chain of title and make other determinations in order to underwrite and issue title insurance policies.

On May 28, 2013, Fidelity entered into an agreement to acquire LPS for approximately $2.9 billion. Fidelity is a publicly traded company based in Jacksonville, Florida. It is a leading provider of mortgage services and diversified services to the mortgage industry, and is the largest title insurance underwriter in the United States. LPS also is a publicly traded company based in Jacksonville. It is a leading provider of technology solutions, transaction services, and data and analytics to the mortgage and real estate industries.

According to the FTC’s complaint, the proposed combination of Fidelity’s and LPS’s title plant assets in six individual Oregon counties and the tri-county Portland, Oregon metropolitan area is likely to substantially lessen competition, in violation of U.S. antitrust laws.

Oregon law requires title insurers to own an interest in a title plant in each county in which they issue policies. This requirement creates a barrier to entry for new firms seeking to provide title insurance underwriting. The proposed acquisition would eliminate one of only a few available title plants in six Oregon counties, and make it possible for Fidelity and only one other underwriter to exclude competing firms from having an interest in a joint title plant in the Portland metropolitan area. Without the provisions in the consent order, the FTC alleges that the proposed acquisition is likely to increase the risk of anticompetitive coordination between title plant owners in these local markets.

The proposed order settling the FTC’s charges will restore competition that is likely lost through the merger but will not interfere with any efficiencies that may be associated with the combination of the two companies. The proposed order requires Fidelity to sell a copy of LPS’s title plants serving the following Oregon counties to an FTC-approved acquirer within five months of closing the acquisition: 1) Clatsop, 2) Columbia, 3) Coos, 4) Josephine, 5) Polk, and 6) Tillamook. The required divestitures will preserve the number of independent title plants in each county.

In addition, the proposed order requires Fidelity to sell an ownership interest equivalent to LPS’s share in the joint title plant that serves the Portland area to an FTC-approved buyer, also within five months of the deal’s close. It also prohibits Fidelity from exercising its voting rights or influencing others to expel the buyer from the joint plant in the event that the buyer fails to operate an active title business for three months. This provision ensures that the buyer will have the flexibility to develop and carry out its title insurance business.

Finally, the proposed order requires Fidelity to notify the FTC in advance before acquiring any title plants in Oregon in certain circumstances that might raise anticompetitive concerns, and includes an order to maintain assets that requires Fidelity to maintain the title plant assets and the joint plant until the divestitures are complete.

The Commission vote to accept the consent agreement containing the proposed consent order for public comment was 3-1, with Commissioner Joshua D. Wright voting no. The Commission issued a separate statement and Commissioner Wright issued a dissenting statement. The FTC will publish a description of the consent agreement package in the Federal Register shortly. The agreement will be subject to public comment for 30 days, beginning today and continuing through January 23, 2014, after which the Commission will decide whether to make the proposed consent order final. Interested parties can submit written comments electronically or in paper form by following the instructions in the “Invitation To Comment” part of the “Supplementary Information” section.

Comments in paper form should be mailed or delivered to: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, Room H-113, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20580. The FTC is requesting that any comment filed in paper form near the end of the public comment period be sent by courier or overnight service, if possible, because U.S. postal mail in the Washington area and at the Commission is subject to delay due to heightened security precautions. Comments can be submitted electronically.

NOTE: The Commission issues an administrative complaint when it has “reason to believe” that the law has been or is being violated, and it appears to the Commission that a proceeding is in the public interest. When the Commission issues a consent order on a final basis, it carries the force of law with respect to future actions. Each violation of such an order may result in a civil penalty of up to $16,000.

The FTC’s Bureau of Competition works with the Bureau of Economics to investigate alleged anticompetitive business practices and, when appropriate, recommends that the Commission take law enforcement action. To inform the Bureau about particular business practices, call 202-326-3300, send an e-mail to antitrust{at}ftc{dot}gov, or write to the Office of Policy and Coordination, Bureau of Competition, Federal Trade Commission, 601 New Jersey Ave., N.W., Room 7117, Washington, DC 20001. To learn more about the Bureau of Competition, read Competition Counts. Like the FTC on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and subscribe to press releases for the latest FTC news and resources.
Contact Information

MEDIA CONTACT:
Mitchell J. Katz
Office of Public Affairs
202-326-2161

STAFF CONTACT:
Jessica S. Drake
Bureau of Competition
202-326-3144

source: ftc.gov

AND of course the Lap Dogs decline to comment I bet because it might hurt their sale to Fidelity…

Bloomberg-

Lender Processing Services Inc. (LPS) is in talks with regulators that could lead to a settlement of more than $200 million over improper and fraudulent foreclosure paperwork after the 2008 credit crisis, according to people briefed on the discussions.

The deal would resolve claims that LPS falsified documents related to home seizures, including through “robo-signing.” The Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency have discussed directing at least some of the money to homeowners, said two people who spoke on condition of anonymity because the matter is private.

LPS, a mortgage-processing firm whose biggest customers have been Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), previously settled similar matters with the Justice Department and almost every U.S. state. The Jacksonville, Florida-based company is one of the few in a group accused of foreclosure misdeeds that hasn’t made a final deal with bank regulators.

[BLOOMBERG]

DS NEWS

Bill Griffin, EVP at Lender Processing Services (LPS), has been elected to serve on the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) board of directors, the company announced.

Griffin joins a number of new board members who will work together with the existing members to set MBA’s strategic direction and oversee management of its initiatives. His appointment was first announced at the group’s 100th Annual Convention & Expo in late October.

[DS NEWS]

image: LPS

PR-BG –

Lender Processing Services, Inc. (NYSE: LPS), a leading provider of integrated technology, services, data and analytics to the mortgage and real estate industries, today announced it has set a date for a special meeting of its stockholders to consider and vote on its acquisition by Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (NYSE: FNF) and certain other matters. The special meeting will be held on December 19, 2013, at 10:00 a.m. local time, at the Peninsular Auditorium at 601 Riverside Avenue, Jacksonville, Florida.

LPS stockholders of record as of the close of business on October 29, 2013 are entitled to vote at the special meeting. Additional information concerning the special meeting and the transaction is included in the definitive proxy statement relating to the special meeting, which has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and will be mailed to LPS stockholders who are entitled to vote at the special meeting.

[PR-BG]

What a freaking joke for the National Notary Association to even get involved with those who were involved in Robo-Signing and who couldn’t even follow simple standards that were already in place! This shares similarities to MERS and its shareholders.

.

“A special committee called the Signing Professionals Workgroup (SPW) comprised of executives from major lenders and title companies, developed the Standards“.

NNA-

The collapse of the housing market and numerous other crises have caused the government to significantly increase its scrutiny of the mortgage industry. This challenging new environment is forcing lenders, title companies, signing services and others in the mortgage origination world to take a hard look at how business is done.

Of all the people involved in originating mortgages, Notary Signing Agents received little attention. That is changing. In order to comply with federal mandates, lenders now recognize that the tens of thousands of Signing Agents who represent them at the signing table need to be better qualified.

As a result, leading lenders and title companies gathered to create the first set of recommended best-practice standards for Notaries handling loan signings. These standards are called the Certified Signing Specialist Standards and form the basis of a new designation for signing professionals: the Certified Signing Specialist. That is a Notary who has met all of the elements of the standards.

[NATIONAL NOTARY ASSOCIATION]

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Oct. 28, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — Lender Processing Services, Inc. (NYSE: LPS), a leading provider of integrated technology, data and analytics to the mortgage and real estate industries, today announced the launch of its Error Resolution Tracking solution, an innovative workflow tool designed to assist mortgage servicers in meeting new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) requirements for recording, tracking and responding to consumer complaints regarding possible errors with their loans. LPS can quickly implement Error Resolution Tracking to help servicers meet the CFPB’s compliance deadline of Jan. 10, 2014.

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“With the CFPB’s deadline fast approaching, servicers are looking for solutions that can be implemented quickly to help them enhance compliance and control,” said Joe Nackashi, CIO and executive vice president of the LPS Servicing Solutions and Technology division. “Error Resolution Tracking delivers highly efficient capabilities for servicers to gain more control over processes, provide a timely response to their borrowers and be better prepared to respond to new CFPB regulatory requirements.”

Using servicer-defined parameters within the configurable settings in its logic and workflow, Error Resolution Tracking links incoming borrower correspondence with the loan number in LPS’ MSP^® servicing platform and assigns the borrower inquiry to the appropriate work queue for immediate action. To help streamline servicer response time, the solution auto-generates an initial response to the borrower acknowledging receipt of their complaint, and also preserves an audit trail of all borrower correspondence received and sent. If the servicer determines more time is needed to respond to a borrower’s inquiry, the Error Resolution Tracking solution auto-generates an extension notification to the borrower.

While Error Resolution Tracking is integrated with MSP, the solution may be used by all servicers. Using sophisticated queuing technology, Error Resolution Tracking can help servicers reduce time-intensive manual data entry in off-line systems, improve response time to borrowers and increase accountability by providing proper controls around the error resolution tracking process.