Barney Frank (D-MA), Chairman of the House Committee on Financial Services, has announced that the Committee will hold hearings beginning July 10, 2008 on potential policy implications of the transformation of domestic and international financial markets.  The hearings will focus on potential systemic risk associated with substantial growth in the share of assets held outside the [...]...

Mortgage Law Blog recently had a chance to catch up with the CEO of Mavent, Inc., a 2007 Future Leader of the Mortgage Bankers Association.  That dialog appears below. Background   Tell us about Mavent, Inc.    Mavent provides automated consumer protection regulatory audits and compliance-related consulting services. Mavent is best known for its automated compliance engine, which analyzes elect...

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has posted a new settlement agreement entered into between HUD and a developer for alleged violations of the Interstate Land Sales Act. As of this writing, HUD had not issued a press release regarding the settlement.  HUD also appears to have inadvertently posted the agreement under RESPA instead of [...]...

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has issued 2007 Significant Legal, Licensing, and Community Development Precedents for National Banks. The summary highlights certain developments in the areas of general banking and securities activities, enforcement actions, investments, preemption and regulations. Readers will recall that 2007 included a monumental victory for the OCC in the area of...

The Department of Housing and Urban Development's Federal Housing Administration has issued Mortgagee Letter 2008-17, Non FHA-Approved Mortgage Brokers - Forward Mortgages. The Mortgagee Letter states in part: This Mortgagee Letter reminds lenders of existing FHA policy regarding the use of non FHA-approved mortgage brokers when originating FHA-insured forward mortgages.  FHA loan origination serv...