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 Office for the Southern District of New York in a civil investigation of Residential Home Funding Corp. Residential Home is a Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-approved mortgage lender having its principal place of business in White Plains, NY.
On September 18, 2017, Residential Home entered into a settlement agreement with the Federal Government to pay $1.67 million. Residential Home endorsed FHA mortgage insurance loans that did not meet the underwriting requirements. Between 2004 and 2012, Residential Home knowingly (1) submitted or caused to be submitted to HUD false claims for FHA insurance for some loans that were ineligible for FHA insurance, (2) submitted false annual certifications to HUD attesting to compliance with direct endorsement program rules, and (3) submitted false individual loan certifications to HUD attesting that certain loans were eligible for FHA insurance. Also, Residential Home did not maintain a quality control program that complied with HUD requirements.