| HUD No. 00-330 | |
| Further Information: | For Release |
| In the Washington, DC area: 202/708-0685 | Tuesday |
| Or contact your local HUD office | November 21, 2000 |
HUD MORTGAGEE REVIEW BOARD REBUKES LENDERS IN SIX STATES AND PUERTO RICO
WASHINGTON - U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Andrew Cuomo announced today that HUD has fined seven lending institutions $486,000 and restricted their dealings with the Federal Housing Administration for up to five years for violating federal lending policies. The sanctions are the most serious meted out by HUD's Mortgage Review Board in the past three months.
The MRB levied the sanctions against American Investment Mortgage, Inc., Dallas, TX; American SkyCorp, Inc., (ASI) Timonium, MD; Assurety Mortgage Group, Inc., Decatur, GA; DMR Financial Services, Inc., Farmington Hills, MI; National Charter Mortgage Corp., Gardena, CA; SMN Mortgage Corp., Rio Piedras, PR; and Twins, Inc., Columbia, SC.
American Investment Mortgage's FHA approval authority was withdrawn for five years for operating branch offices under an improper branch network and allowing a branch office to submit loans before being approved to originate FHA loans.
American SkyCorp., Inc., was penalized $220,000 and its FHA approval authority withdrawn for five years for using falsified documents in originating loans and obtaining mortgage insurance, for approving loans with ratios that exceeded HUD established guidelines, and for not ensuring that borrowers qualified for FHA-insured mortgages.
Assurety Mortgage Group, Inc., was fined $150,000 and its FHA approval was withdrawn for an additional five years because AMGI defied previous MRB sanctions and continued to participate in HUD/FHA programs after its authority was withdrawn for three years in February 2000.
National Charter Mortgage Corp., was fined $100,000 and its HUD/FHA approval was withdrawn for three years for failure to remit Up Front Mortgage Insurance Premiums within 15 days of loan closing.
SMN Mortgage Corp., had its HUD/FHA approval authority withdrawn for three years because it permitted mortgage brokers to originate and process HUD-insured mortgages before obtaining FHA approval.
DMR Financial Services, Inc., had its HUD/FHA approval authority withdrawn for three years because it failed to make timely Upfront Mortgage Insurance Premium payments on 30 loans.
Twins, Inc., was penalized $16,000 and its HUD/FHA approval authority was withdrawn for three years because it maintained an office not clearly identified to the public and failed to maintain an adequate Quality Control Plan for originating HUD-insured mortgages.
The MRB, in the past two years, has taken action against 98 lenders, which has saved taxpayers $22.5 million through penalties and indemnified loans.
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