| Lenders Ordered to Stop Raising Funds
Three real estate mortgage lenders were sanctioned this week by the California Department of Corporations for violating the terms of their permits allowing them to raise funds through individual investors. The permits of Estate Financial Inc. and Estate Financial Mortgage Funding LLC in Paso Robles and Cedar Funding Mortgage Fund LLC in Monterey County were suspended this week pending final revocation. The orders were issued by Preston DuFauchard, Commissioner of the California Department of Corporations, which has regulatory jurisdiction over the sale of securities pursuant to the Corporate Securities Law of 1968. Estate Financial Inc. (EFI) is a real estate investment group that offers and sells securities in the form of fractional interests in notes secured by deeds of trust in California. California lenders...
Calif. bill requires lenders to maintain foreclosed homes
SACRAMENTO (AP) - California lawmakers want banks and other lenders to make sure foreclosed homes don't become run down and a source of blight. If they fail to do that, they'll face a $1,000-a-day fine under a bill that passed the state Senate on Monday. California has 1 of the highest foreclosure rates in the nation. Many communities, particularly in the Central Valley, are riddled with homes that have been abandoned by buyers who could not afford their mortgage payments when they reset to higher rates. In many cases, the vacant properties are overgrown with weeds and shrubs and have become magnets for squatters and vandals. Swimming pools often become stagnant, turning into breeding grounds for mosquitoes. The bill by Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata also requires owners of foreclosed properties to give renters 60 days' notice before they can be evicted.
State's congressional delegates seek permanent rise in loan limits
In a letter delivered to congressional leaders Thursday morning, 44 members of the California congressional delegation urged a permanent increase in the loan limits for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). The letter, led by Reps. Ellen Tauscher, D-Solano, and Gary Miller, R-Diamond Bar, comes as the House Financial Services Committee completes work this week on a housing stimulus measure. "The current housing crisis will only get worse before it gets better if we don't make common sense policy decisions that help Main Street just as much as they do Wall Street," said Tauscher. "We can relieve the pressure that homeowners in high-cost regions like California are facing by ensuring that the increased loan limits are made permanent. This will provide California homeowners and prospective buyers with access to safe, affordable loans that keep them in their homes and bolster their financial security." Established in 1934, the FHA provides mortgage insurance for prospective homebuyers. California lenders...
Mortgage broker sues lenders in privacy breach
LendingTree, an online mortgage broker that claims to have reached more than 20 million customers, had a privacy breach that exposed personal data such as income and job information on an undisclosed number of users. The private company notified customers by letter last week that "several former employees may have helped a handful of mortgage lenders gain access to LendingTree's customer information by sharing confidential passwords with the lenders." .
Buyers with spotty credit could benefit from FHA loan
SANTA ANA, Calif. -- Tara Poulsen bought a four-bedroom house in Mission Viejo, Calif., for $469,000, after waiting out the housing market for more than three years. To do it, she and her husband went with a federal loan program that waned in popularity in some areas during the housing boom. They got a loan insured by the Federal Housing Administration, which accepts borrowers with spotty credit. Poulsen's husband has a midrange credit score and filed for bankruptcy about 10 years ago, she said. Some lenders and brokers say consumers who have dinged credit or are short of cash should consider FHA, which is filling the void left by the implosion of subprime lenders. FHA backing protects lenders from loss, so they are more willing to make riskier loans.California lenders...
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