The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG), assisted the Office of Program Enforcement in the investigation of Land Home Financial Services, Inc. to determine whether it violated HUD requirements when underwriting loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA).  Land Home is an FHA mortgage lender, located in Concord, CA.    Based in part on OIG’s review, HUD contends that Land Home may be liable under the Program Fraud Civil Remedies Act of 1986, 31 U.S.C. (United States Code) 3801-3812, as implemented by 24 CFR (Code of Federal Regulations) Part 28, for falsely certifying that a loan it underwrote was eligible for FHA mortgage insurance.  HUD contended that Land Home failed to obtain sufficient explanations for the borrower’s negative credit.

On February 12, 2016, Land Home entered into a settlement agreement with HUD to avoid further expense and administrative proceedings.  Land Home agreed to pay $45,000 to HUD to resolve the matter, which it paid at the time of settlement.  The settlement agreement did not constitute an admission of liability or fault on the part of any party.