The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Inspector General (OIG) assisted the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Northern District of Alabama in the civil investigation of Guardian Pest Services, Inc., doing business as Knox Pest Control and J.J.S.K. Solutions, Inc.  Knox Pest Control has its principal place of business in Columbus, GA.  A HUD home is a one-to-four unit residential property acquired by HUD as…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG), assisted HUD’s Office of Program Enforcement in the civil investigation of American Midwest Mortgage Corporation.  American’s principal place of business is located in Cleveland, OH.  American became an FHA-approved direct endorsement lender on August 28, 1983.  The direct endorsement lender program authorizes private-sector mortgage…

We audited the Georgia Housing and Finance Authority’s implementation of the Federal Housing Administration’s Home Affordable Modification Program (FHA-HAMP).  We selected the Authority because (1) our data analysis showed that the Authority had the highest ratio of FHA-HAMP actions to delinquent loans within the jurisdiction of our regional office, (2) the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) office located in Atlanta,…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG) assisted in an investigation into alleged violations of Federal Housing Administration (FHA) regulations by Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corporation and Home America Mortgage, Inc.  The investigation included a qui tam action filed under the False Claims Act in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.  The False…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General audited Nations Lending Corporation, a Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-approved nonsupervised direct endorsement lender approved to originate, underwrite, and submit mortgages for insurance under the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) direct endorsement program. We selected Nations for audit based on our risk assessment of single-family…

As part of the Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) nationwide effort to review the foreclosure practices of the five largest Federal Housing Administration (FHA) servicers (Bank of America, Wells Fargo Bank, CitiMortgage, Ally Financial, Incorporated, and JPMorgan Chase Bank), we reviewed JPMorgan Chase Bank’s (Chase) foreclosure and claims processes. In addition to this memorandum, OIG issued separate memorandums for each of the other four…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) audited PNC Mortgage (PNC), a Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-approved nonsupervised lender and servicer. We selected PNC for audit based on a citizen’s complaint regarding National City Mortgage Corporation (National City). PNC acquired National City in December 2008. Therefore, the report will be addressed to the current entity. Our objective was to determine whether PNC…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Inspector General performed an audit of Consumer Credit Counseling Services of the Midwest (Consumer Credit), an affiliate of the National Foundation for Credit Counseling, Inc. (National Foundation). We selected Consumer Credit based on a citizen’s complaint received by our office. Our objective was to determine whether Consumer Credit complied with HUD’s requirements for…

We conducted a review of 20 Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans underwritten by Pine State Mortgage Corporation (Pine State), an FHA direct endorsement lender. This review was conducted as part of our “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 increasing claim rates against the FHA insurance fund for…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Inspector General audited National Home Management Solutions (National Home), HUD’s management and marketing contractor for HUD real estate-owned properties in Ohio. We selected National Home based on a citizen’s complaint received by our office. Our objective was to determine whether National Home complied with HUD’s requirements regarding the sale of HUD single-family real…

HUD OIG performed an audit of Mortgage Counseling Services, Inc., a Federal Housing Administration approved non-supervised lender. The review was performed based on the lender’s high default rates. The purpose of the audit was to determine whether the lender followed the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) requirements for (1) borrower eligibility and creditworthiness and property eligibility when underwriting loans and (2…

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Inspector General performed an audit of Leader Financial Services (Leader), a Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae) issuer servicing Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured loans. We initiated the audit based on the 62 percent delinquency rate of Leader’s mortgage-servicing package purchased from Fidelity Home Mortgage Corporation (Fidelity). Our…

HUD OIG audited Meridian Lending, Inc., a Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-approved direct endorsement lender. The objectives were to determine whether it followed the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) requirements for (1) borrower eligibility and creditworthiness and property eligibility when underwriting loans and (2) implementing a quality control program. Meridian did not follow HUD requirements in originating…