Experian, a global information services company, has announced its comprehensive offering of products and services to help clients comply with consumer notification requirements related to the new Risk-Based Pricing Rule. Beginning Jan. 1, 2011, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Federal Reserve Board (FRB) have mandated that lenders send consumers a Risk-Based Pricing Notice if the lender does not provide the consumer with the most favorable rate.Read more

Rep. Doris Matsui (D-CA) announced that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has released a report on the current situation of mortgage foreclosure scams occurring around the country, and an analysis of the government’s efforts to prohibit such deceptive financial practices.Read more

Home Assure LLC, a company that deceived consumers with promises it could save their homes from foreclosure, will pay $2.4 million to victims as part of a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The case is part of the FTC's continuing crackdown on scams that prey on financially distressed homeowners. According to the FTC’s complaint, Home Assure LLC conducted a nationwide marketing campaign designed to take advantage of struggling homeowners by offering so-called mortgage foreclosure rescue services.Read more

To settle Federal Trade Commission (FTC) charges that its 2008 acquisition of three LandAmerica Financial Inc. subsidiaries was anticompetitive, Fidelity National Financial Inc. will sell several title plants and related assets in the Portland, Ore. and Detroit, Mich. metropolitan areas, and in four other Oregon counties.Read more

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued a warning 18 Web sites offering free credit reports that they must clearly disclose that a free report is available under federal law.Read more

New Jersey Attorney General Paula T. Dow has announced that a New Jersey loan modification company and its owners have agreed to a judgment of $5,051,253 to settle civil charges they defrauded homeowners who sought help in avoiding mortgage foreclosure. In addition to civil penalties of $5 million, corporate defendants Hope Now Financial Services Corporation and Hope Now Modifications LLC of Cherry Hill, N.J., along with individual defendants Salvatore A. Puglia Sr. and Nicholas F.Read more

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is distributing refund checks to borrowers lured by Chase Financial Funding Inc. who is charged with deceptively advertising that it offered 3.5 percent, fixed-payment, 30-year mortgage loans. According to the FTC’s federal court complaint filed in 2004, the firm allegedly duped consumers into signing up for adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) in which the principal balance would increase if they made payments at the advertised rates.Read more

The National Association of Mortgage Brokers (NAMB), the Association of Mortgage Professionals, has recognized June as National Homeownership Month, an important time for the American economy and American consumer as the housing industry continues its recovery. “NAMB applauds Rep. Gary Miller (R-CA) for his resolution recently passed by the House of Representatives recognizing June as National Homeownership Month, and for his hard work on and commitment to the recovery of the housing industry,” said NAMB President, Jim Pair, CMC.Read more

Colorado Attorney General John Suthers has announced that his office has taken action against three firms engaged in fraudulent business practices in Colorado as part of his office’s efforts to crack down on mortgage and foreclosure fraud. “The problem of mortgage brokers falsifying consumers’ earnings or wrongly vouching for their abilities to pay back steep loans has undoubtedly contributed to Colorado’s foreclosure crisis,” Suthers said.Read more

United States Attorney General Eric Holder, Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) Director Robert S. Mueller III, U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) Inspector General (HUD-OIG) Kenneth M. Donohue, and additional members of the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force have announced the results of a nationwide takedown, Operation Stolen Dreams, which targeted mortgage fraudsters throughout the country and is the largest collective enforcement effort ever brought to bear in confronting mortgage fraud.Read more