Archives

U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter (CO-07) passed bipartisan legislation requiring federal banking regulators to jointly study the appropriate capital treatment of Mortgage Servicing Rights (MSRs) under Basel III and the NCUA Risk-Based capital requirements

Colorado Attorney General Cynthia H. Coffman announced today that her office has sent out checks totaling approximately $450,000 to homeowners who were improperly charged posting and title foreclosure costs by the former foreclosure law firm The Law Office of Michael P. Medved. Homeowners were overcharged by having to pay the law firm’s fees as part of making their mortgage current when they stopped their foreclosure through cure or reinstatement

The Colorado Attorney General’s Office announced that the statewide grand jury has issued a 37-count indictment against six family members for using their status in the real estate industry to perpetrate a fraud-for-profit mortgage fraud scheme. The family is accused of manipulating “straw buyers” to buy and sell properties destined for foreclosure. The six are accused of violating the Colorado Organized Crime Control Act based on the commission of crimes ranging from Forgery and Theft, to Criminal Impersonation, and Attempt to Influence a Public Servant

Colorado Attorney General John Suthers today announced a $550 million nationwide state-federal settlement with mortgage lender and servicer SunTrust Mortgage Inc. to remedy mortgage origination, servicing, and foreclosure abuses. To resolve past SunTrust abuses, some Colorado borrowers are now eligible for $4,448,533 in principal reduction loan modifications, refinancing for underwater mortgages, foreclosure payments and other relief. Coloradans who experienced servicing abuses and were foreclosed by SunTrust from January 1, 2008 through December 31, 2013 may be eligible for a payment from a national $40 million fund. Payment amounts will depend on how many borrowers file claims

Colorado Attorney General John Suthers announced today that he is reallocating $23 million from Colorado’s National Mortgage Settlement funds to affordable housing programs with special emphasis in funding affordable housing in areas hardest hit by the recent flood and wildfires. The money is part of the overall $51.17 million in custodial funds Colorado recovered from the National Mortgage Settlement.

DENVER - November 18, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Statewide Grand Jury indicted nine individuals for targeting distressed homeowners as part of a fraudulent short-sale scheme that allowed the defendants to ultimately defraud the banks and lenders who held the mortgages for the distressed homeowners. The announcement was made today by Colorado Attorney General John Suthers; Ronald Sloan, Director of Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI); Inspector General David Montoya of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development-Office of Inspector General (U.S. HUD-OIG); Acting Inspector General Michael P. Stephens of the U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency-Office of Inspector General (U.S. FHFA-OIG), and Marcia Waters, Division Director of the Colorado Division of Real Estate

DENVER - September 1, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Colorado Attorney General John Suthers today announced a successful outcome for victims of Paramount Mortgage of Colorado Ltd and owner Jill M. Evans (D.O.B. 09/15/65). In early 2012, the Attorney General announced that the State Grand Jury had indicted Evans for stealing fees for mortgage loans that Evans never delivered.

DENVER - August 22, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Joseph A. Smith, Jr., Monitor of the National Mortgage Settlement, issued his final report today regarding the total amount of consumer relief granted by the five banks that are parties to the settlement. The banks disclosed that from March 1, 2012 through June 30, 2013 they have extended $51.33 billion in total relief to 643,726 borrowers nationwide. These figures include principal forgiveness that is granted to allow customers to reach a loan modification that lowers their mortgage payments or loan forgiveness that is needed to allow a homeowner to get a short sale.

DENVER - July 31, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Colorado Attorney General John W. Suthers today announced that his office and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have reached a settlement with Russell and Catherine Dalbey of Boulder for allegedly defrauding consumers with promises of making money by brokering seller-financed promissory notes or privately held mortgage loans. The two are now banned from telemarketing, selling business opportunities and producing or distributing infomercials.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - July 25, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Mark Udall, who serves on the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, urged the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in a letter today to reimburse financing fees charged for VA-backed home loans to veterans who lost their homes in the Waldo Canyon and Black Forest Fires. Udall sent the letter after learning of a constituent who paid thousands of dollars in non-reimbursable fees for a VA-backed home refinance loan only to lose his home a few months later in the Black Forest Fire. Under current policy, he and other VA beneficiaries may be required to pay additional fees when using a VA loan to purchase a replacement home.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - July 25, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, House Financial Services Committee Republicans rushed through passing a radical a housing finance plan (PATH ACT) that could force homeowners into risky and exotic mortgages, gut protections for homebuyers, and end the 30-year fixed rate mortgage. U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter (CO-07), a member of the House Financial Services Committee called this measure a "Path to Nowhere" and voted against the measure in committee. The Republican plan would significantly raise the price of homeownership while at the same time eliminate many affordable housing programs.

DENVER - June 5, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Colorado borrowers who submitted a valid foreclosure payment claim through the National Mortgage Settlement will receive a check this month for an average of $1,480. To date, the total cash payments for mortgage servicing abuse are Colorado is $32,882,672. This relief is in addition to $405.3 million already provided to more than 7,000 borrowers for principal reductions, mortgage modifications and other forms of relief.

DENVER - May 22, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Joseph A. Smith, Jr., Monitor of the National Mortgage Settlement, has received an update on the consumer relief activities the five banks that are parties to the Settlement reported through March 31, 2013. The banks sent these reports to each state that is party to the Settlement with copies to the Monitor and the Monitoring Committee.

DENVER - February 26, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Attorney General John Suthers today localized the latest report by Joseph A. Smith, Jr., Monitor of the National Mortgage Settlement outlining the consumer relief activities the five banks that are parties to the settlement have conducted since March 1, 2012. The banks disclosed that they have extended more than $45.83 billion in gross relief to more than 550,000 borrowers. These figures include first and second lien modifications, facilitations of short sales, refinancing and other forms of relief. In Colorado, 6,277 consumers have received almost $358.0 million and benefitted from an average of $57,000 per homeowner.

DENVER - February 4, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Justin H. Knight, age 36, of Littleton, Colorado, was sentenced last Friday by U.S. District Court Judge Robert E. Blackburn to serve five years’ probation, with the first 12 months in home detention for shredding documents in an attempt to obstruct an investigation into a mortgage fraud scheme, U.S. Attorney John Walsh, FBI Denver Special Agent in Charge James Yacone, IRS-Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge Stephen Boyd, and U.S. Postal Inspector in Charge Adam Behnen announced. Judge Blackburn ordered Knight to pay a $100 special assessment as well as the cost of the electronic monitoring.