In the very unusual period in which we find ourselves today, it seems to be common wisdom that an avalanche of commercial loan defaults is coming. As such, it is a good time to take a fresh look at the terms and provisions used in commercial workout documents, whether in a simple agreement that extends … Continue Reading
On April 24, 2020, the Texas Supreme Court upheld a lender’s right to equitable subrogation for non-compliant home equity loans, ruling that lenders who fail to cure within the statutorily mandated 60-day period may recoup funds paid to satisfy prior liens. The court’s opinion in Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. v. Zepeda answered a certified … Continue Reading
On March 31, 2020, the CFPB posted a “Guide to coronavirus mortgage relief options,” which provides instruction to mortgage loan borrowers who may be impacted by COVID-19 on when and how to go about obtaining assistance. While we have previously discussed compliance challenges that are likely to arise related to verbal loss mitigation applications and … Continue Reading
The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the National Credit Union Administration, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and the Conference of State Bank Supervisors issued an Interagency Statement on March 22 urging regulated financial institutions to work with borrowers affected … Continue Reading
Both parties have recognized the need for significant and immediate relief to assist consumers and small businesses affected by COVID-19. On March 18, 2020, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), the chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee, released plans for responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. At this point, the plans are merely a high-level list of … Continue Reading
Part III: Modifications Post-Discharge Welcome to Part III of our series on the servicing of discharged mortgage debt. This part will discuss modifying a borrower’s loan after a discharge. (If you missed Part I or Part II, go ahead and catch up.) Servicers and borrowers struggle with lack of clarity regarding the nature of the relationship … Continue Reading
On September 21, 2018, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”)’s Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) completed a review of HUD’s partial claims program. In many ways, the title of the OIG audit report, “HUD Did Not Have Adequate Controls To Ensure That Partial Claim Notes for FHA Loans Were Properly Tracked for Future … Continue Reading
A California man that operated as a high-level sales executive for a fraudulent residential mortgage-loan modification scheme will now spend several years in jail. From 2009 to 2016, Mehdi Moarefian (aka Michael Miller) acted as a senior sales manager for a series of California-based companies that purported to help struggling homeowners under names such as … Continue Reading
On October 3, 2008, George W. Bush signed the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) into law as part of the government’s efforts to combat the subprime mortgage crisis and shore up the faltering economy. In general terms, TARP allowed the U.S. Department of Treasury to purchase or insure up to $700 billion of troubled assets, … Continue Reading
In Matt v. HSBC Bank USA, N.A., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit dismissed as moot a borrower’s claims that HSBC as Trustee for the investor lacked authority to act under the terms of the mortgage. In 2010, HSBC, acting as Trustee for the investor, filed a complaint in Massachusetts state court … Continue Reading
