An Interview with Hon. Kenneth M. Donohue, former HUD Inspector General The following interview was conducted by Andrew Liput, CEO and President of Secure Insight, a New Jersey based vendor management firm specializing in identifying and monitoring settlement agent risk for mortgage lenders nationwide.  Mr. Liput sat down with Kenneth M. Donohue, former HUD Inspector […]

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You Can’t Make This Stuff Up!  This month like every month we feature some of the latest news about mortgage and closing fraud affecting our industry.  These are real cases from around the country, only the names have been redacted to avoid threats of frivolous legal action… In Washington State, a vice-president, loan officer and […]

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When the CFPB issued its Bulletin 2012-3 addressing third party service provider risk management, the industry largely responded with a blank stare.  Because most lenders had never developed risk management protocols and vetting processes for vendors, there was significant confusion about what they needed to do to satisfy regulators. The Bulletin itself was somewhat vague […]

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Spring is in the air, and for sports enthusiasts like me that means one thing: Spring training and the start of yet another baseball season. As I check out the Florida box scores, I can’t help but find some parallels between the National Pastime and the current state of the mortgage industry. With the current […]

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Immediately after Donald Trump was elected President in November 2016, the election the mortgage industry was buzzing with articles predicting that a Trump Presidency would mean the death knell for the Consumer Financial Protection bureau (CFPB).  It will never happen for several reasons. First, Mr. Trump did not campaign on a platform to decrease consumer […]

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For years real estate closing work has been the “bread and butter” of many small law practices.  Representing buyers and sellers in sales and mortgage closing transactions can be a lucrative practice area, and because there are no significant rules and training or practice barriers as for example complex criminal defense or tax work, it […]

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For years notaries have found a profitable source of recurring business handing the witnessing and collection of closing documents at residential mortgage closing transactions.  Whether affiliated with escrow and settlement firms, or hired by law firms and title agencies, notaries have found this work relatively easy and absent any significant supervision, oversight and regulation. That […]

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Now that 2017 has ended, many lenders are breathing a strong sigh of relief.  In the past few years regulatory and compliance directives from Washington have fueled increased loan costs, spurred the development of new compliance-related industries, and have caused audits to evolve from rather tame file reviews to multiple week om-site visits by well-trained […]

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For years credit unions have sent mortgage proceeds and loan documents to non-vetted and unsupervised men and women acting as “settlement agents” who appeared at the closing table, interacted with members and were largely responsible for insuring a safe, secure and compliant mortgage closing.  Whether the professional was a lawyer, title agent, escrow agent or […]

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Using data mining and intelligence for predictive behavior analysis can stop potential losses from mortgage fraud.  Today the technology, the analytics and the processes exist to deter bad acts and to uncover bad actors BEFORE they commit a crime that can cost you and your customers tens of thousands of dollars in actual fraud losses. […]

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