Housing and Mortgage Fraud
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February 3, 2015
Ratings Agency giant Standard & Poor’s Financial Services (S&P), along with its parent corporation McGraw Hill Financial Inc., agreed to pay $1.375B to settle charges it schemed to defraud investors in structured financial products known as Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities (RMBS) and Collateralized Debt Obligations (CDOs). According to the government, S&P falsely represented that its ratings of RMBS and CDOs were objective, independent and uninfluenced by S&P’s business relationships with the investment banks that issued the securities. Instead, S&P issued inflated ratings that misrepresented the securities’ true credit risks causing RMBS and CDO investors to incur substantial losses. Whistleblower InsiderJanuary 22, 2016
Virginia has recovered more than $63 million collectively from eleven banks to settle allegations that the banks misled the Commonwealth of Virginia and the Virginia Retirement System through the sale of allegedly misrepresented residential mortgage-backed securities. This is the largest non-healthcare-related recovery ever obtained in a suit alleging violations of the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act. The eleven banks included in the settlement are Countrywide Securities Corporation, Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc., RBS Securities Inc., Barclays Capital Inc., Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Goldman, Sachs & Co., HSBC Securities (USA) Inc., Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, and UBS Securities LLC. VAAugust 21, 2014
Bank of America agreed to pay $16.65 billion to resolve federal and state mortgage fraud claims against the bank and its former and current subsidiaries, including Countrywide Financial Corporation andMerrill Lynch. It is the largest civil settlement with a single entity in American history. And it includes a $5 billion penalty under the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act (FIRREA), the largest FIRREA penalty ever. As part of the settlement, BofA acknowledged misrepresenting the quality of billions of dollars worth of risky mortgage loans. Whistleblower InsiderJuly 14, 2014
Citigroup agreed to pay $7B to resolve government claims related to the bank’s packaging, securitization, marketing, sale and issuance of residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) which, according to the government, “contributed mightily to the financial crisis that devastated our economy in 2008.” The settlement includes a $4B civil penalty — the largest penalty to date under the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act (FIRREA). Whistleblower InsiderJuly 3, 2014
SunTrust Mortgage Inc. agreed to pay $320M to resolve a criminal investigation of SunTrust’s administration of the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). According to the government, SunTrust misled numerous customers who sought mortgage relief through HAMP by making material misrepresentations and omissions to borrowers in HAMP solicitations, and failing to process HAMP applications in a timely fashion. As a result of SunTrust’s mismanagement of HAMP, thousands of homeowners who applied for a HAMP modification with SunTrust suffered serious financial harms. DOJJune 30, 2014
US Bank agreed to pay the $200M to resolve allegations it violated the False Claims Act by knowingly originating and underwriting mortgage loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) that did not meet applicable requirements. DOJJune 17, 2014
The Justice Department, Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and virtually every state attorney general in the country, reached a $968M settlement with SunTrust Mortgage Inc., the mortgage lending arm of SunTrust Bank, to resolve charges of mortgage origination, servicing, and foreclosure abuses.Whistleblower InsiderFebruary 4, 2014
JPMorgan Chase agreed to pay $614M for violating the False Claims Act by knowingly originating and underwriting non-compliant mortgage loans submitted for insurance coverage and guarantees by the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Federal Housing Administration and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The allegations were first raised in a qui tam lawsuit filed under the whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act. DOJTop-10 DOJ Mortgage Fraud Settlements For 2015
Posted 01/8/16
By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team
Here is our look-back at the top-10 Department of Justice mortgage fraud settlements in 2015.
10. WALTER INVESTMENT -- Walter Investment Management Corp. agreed to pay $29.6 million to resolve allegations that, through its subsidiaries, Reverse Mortgage Solution, REO Management Solutions and RMS Asset Management Solutions, it violated the False Claims Act in...