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OCC Terminates HSBC Mortgage Servicing Restrictions

Submitted by jhartgen@abi.org on

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) terminated its mortgage servicing-related order against HSBC Bank USA, lifting restrictions placed on the bank over its failure to comply with requirements of the Independent Foreclosure Review, Housingwire.com reported yesterday. This termination marks the last OCC-regulated mortgage service to have its order terminated. The OCC originally issued the order in April 2011 and amended it in February 2013, with the most recent amendment in June 2015 forcing business restrictions on HSBC. HSBC must also pay a $32.5 million civil money penalty for previous violations of the order, which it will pay to the U.S. Treasury. The OCC stated HSBC failed to correct deficiencies identified in the 2011 consent order in a timely fashion. As a result, the OCC determined the bank violated the 2011 consent order from Oct. 1, 2014, through Sept. 30, 2016. In addition, the OCC found that HSBC failed to file payment change notices that complied with bankruptcy rules, which resulted in approximately $3.5 million in remediation to borrowers.

HUD Charges Bank of America with Lending Discrimination

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The Department of Housing and Urban Development announced on Friday that it is charging Bank of America and two of its employees with discriminating against Hispanic mortgage borrowers, HousingWire.com reported. The charges stem from a complaint filed by the National Fair Housing Alliance, which conducted a series of “secret shopper” tests in which Hispanic and non-Hispanic individuals, posing as prospective mortgage borrowers, attempted to get a mortgage from a Bank of America branch in Charleston, S.C. According to the National Fair Housing Alliance and HUD, Hispanic prospective mortgage borrowers were given inferior loan options when compared to non-Hispanic prospective borrowers. Specifically, the NFHA claimed that bank discriminated against prospective borrowers who are Hispanic by failing to provide them with information about loan products or by offering them loan products with less attractive terms, as compared to prospective borrowers who are not Hispanic.

Fidelity National Unit Said to Near Settlement over Robo-Signing

Submitted by jhartgen@abi.org on

A Fidelity National Financial Inc. subsidiary is in final talks to pay as much as $65 million to resolve U.S. government accusations that it contributed to improper and fraudulent foreclosures after the 2008 credit crisis, Bloomberg News reported on Friday. Federal banking regulators agreed that a $65 million penalty could settle the case involving so-called robo-signing of foreclosure papers tied to the firm formerly known as Lender Processing Services Inc. Fidelity National acquired the company during the lengthy settlement talks with the Federal Reserve and other agencies, and it has been divided among subsidiaries including ServiceLink Holdings and Black Knight Financial Services.