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, 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’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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

We audited the Newark, Delaware, branch office (branch office) of J.P. Morgan Chase bank (J.P. Morgan Chase), a supervised direct endorsement lender approved to originate Federal Housing Administration (FHA) single-family mortgage loans. We selected the branch office because its default rate was above the state’s average default rate. Our objective was to determine whether J.P. Morgan Chase complied with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban…

We audited the Newark, Delaware, branch office (branch office) of Wells Fargo Home Mortgage (Wells Fargo). The branch office is mainly responsible for underwriting loans for 22 Wells Fargo sales branch offices in Pennsylvania. We selected the branch office because of its relatively high default rate, compared with the average default rate for the state of Pennsylvania. Our objective was to determine whether the branch office complied with U.S.…