We audited Towne Mortgage Company, a Federal Housing Administration (FHA) nonsupervised lender, as part of the activities in our fiscal year 2018 annual audit plan.  We selected Towne Mortgage based on our analysis of risk factors for single-family servicing lenders in Region 5’s jurisdiction.[1]  Our audit objective was to determine whether Towne Mortgage properly implemented its Loss Mitigation program for FHA-insured loans in…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG), assisted the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the U.S. Attorney’s Offices, District of New Jersey, District of Minnesota, and Southern District of Florida, in the civil investigation of PHH Corporation, PHH Mortgage Corporation (PHHMC), and PHH Home Loans, LLC (PHHHL), collectively referred to as PHH.  PHH was a direct endorsement lender…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG), assisted the U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Michigan, in the civil investigation of United Shore Financial Services, LLC.  United Shore is a Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-approved mortgage lender, with its principal place of business located in Troy, MI. United Shore became…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG), assisted the U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of New Jersey, in the civil investigation of Freedom Mortgage Corporation.  Freedom has its principal place of business in Mount Laurel, NJ, and became an FHA-approved direct endorsement lender in 1993.  As a direct endorsement lender, Freedom…

We completed a review of Provident Bank’s servicing of Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured mortgages and its implementation of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Loss Mitigation program. We selected Provident Bank based on an Office of Inspector General risk assessment of single-family lenders. The objective of the audit was to determine whether Provident Bank properly serviced FHA-insured mortgages and…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Inspector General (OIG), in coordination with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan, conducted a review of GTL Investments, Inc., doing business as John Adams Mortgage Company regarding its originations, underwriting, quality control, and endorsement of Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans. The U.S. Government contended that it had certain…

We audited Member First Mortgage, Limited Liability Company, a Federal Housing Administration (FHA) nonsupervised servicer as part of the activities in our fiscal year 2015 annual audit plan.  We selected Member First based upon our analysis of risk factors for single-family servicing lenders in Region 5’s jurisdiction.   Our audit objectives were to determine whether (1) Member First complied with the U.S. Department of Housing…

HUD OIG assisted the U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Colorado, in the civil investigation of MetLife Bank, N.A.  MetLife had its principal place of business in Convent Station, NJ.  MetLife became an approved direct endorsement lender under HUD’s Federal Housing Administration (FHA) program on April 5, 2007.  The direct endorsement program authorizes private-sector mortgage…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General audited Mortgage Now Inc., a Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-approved nonsupervised direct endorsement lender approved to originate, underwrite, and submit mortgages for insurance. We selected Mortgage Now based on its compare ratio of 223 percent for a 2-year FHA performance period. Its average compare ratio for the loans originated in our…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG), assisted the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York, in conducting a review of Flagstar Bank, FSB. The objective of the review was to determine whether Flagstar conducted its operations in the underwriting of Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans in accordance with HUD-FHA regulations. Flagstar Bank, FSB, is a supervised direct…

We audited Mortgage Lending Direct, Inc. (MLD), a nonsupervised lender (see footnote -1)located in Florham Park, NJ, in support of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of the Inspector General’s (OIG) goal of improving the integrity of the single-family insurance program. We selected MLD for audit because its 8.88 percent default rate for Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured single-family loans with…

We conducted a review of Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans underwritten by Security Atlantic Mortgage Company, Inc. (Security Atlantic), an FHA direct endorsement lender. This review was conducted as part of the Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) Operation Watchdog initiative to review the underwriting of 15 direct endorsement lenders at the suggestion of the FHA Commissioner. The Commissioner expressed concern regarding the…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Inspector General (OIG) audited Michaelson, Connor, and Boul, Incorporated (MCB), a management and marketing contractor for HUD real estate-owned properties in Michigan. We selected MCB based on the results of our audit of Custom Closing, a HUD-designated closing agent for the State of Michigan (see OIG audit report #2009-CH-1021, issued September 2009). Our objective was…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Office of Inspector General (OIG) reviewed 15 Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans that D & R Mortgage Corporation (D & R) underwrote as an FHA direct endorsement lender. Our review objective was to determine whether D & R underwrote the 15 loans in accordance with FHA requirements. This review is part of Operation Watchdog, an OIG initiative to review the underwriting of…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Office of Inspector General (OIG) reviewed 20 Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans that Mac-Clair Mortgage Corporation (Mac-Clair) underwrote as an FHA direct endorsement lender. Our review objective was to determine whether Mac-Clair underwrote the 20 loans in accordance with FHA requirements. This review is part of “Operation Watchdog”, an OIG initiative to review the…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Office of Inspector General (OIG) reviewed 20 Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans that Birmingham Bancorp Mortgage Corporation (Birmingham) underwrote as an FHA direct endorsement lender. Our review objective was to determine whether Birmingham underwrote the 20 loans in accordance with FHA requirements. This review is part of “Operation Watchdog,” an OIG initiative to review…

We audited Infinity Home Mortgage Company, Inc. (Infinity Home Mortgage), a nonsupervised lender approved to originate Federal Housing Administration (FHA) single-family mortgage loans. We selected Infinity Home Mortgage because its default rate for the State of Pennsylvania was significantly higher than the average default rate for the State. Our objective was to determine whether Infinity Home Mortgage complied with U.S. Department of Housing…

We completed an audit of Ark Mortgage, Incorporated (Ark Mortgage), a nonsupervised direct endorsement lender located in North Brunswick, New Jersey. The audit objectives were to determine whether Ark Mortgage officials (1) originated insured loans in accordance with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development/Federal Housing Administration (HUD/FHA) requirements and (2) developed and implemented a quality control plan that complied with…

We completed an audit of Jersey Mortgage Company (Jersey Mortgage), a nonsupervised lender located in Cranford, New Jersey. The audit objectives were to determine whether Jersey Mortgage (1) approved Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured loans in accordance with the requirements of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)/FHA, which include adherence to prudent lending practices, and (2) developed and implemented a…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Office of Inspector General performed an audit of Custom Closing Services, Incorporated (Custom), a contractor closing sales of HUD real estate-owned properties in the state of Michigan. The audit was conducted based on a complaint to our hotline alleging that Custom caused significant delays in the closing of HUD homes in Michigan. Our audit objective was to determine whether Custom…