Government

Kentucky-based PBI Bank expects to enter into a consent order with the FDIC and the Kentucky Department of Financial Institutions, according to the bank's parent company, Porter Bancorp, Inc. The move will create benchmarks for the bank to improve its business, including enhancing asset quality, reducing loan concentrations, and maintaining capital levels.

State and federal regulators stepped in late Friday to shut down two lenders - First Commercial Bank of Tampa Bay in Florida and McIntosh State Bank in Jackson, Georgia. The closings bring the number of financial institutions on the FDIC's failed bank list to 47 for the 2011 calendar year and are expected to cost the federal agency $108.5 million.

As it peels back the layers of the secondary market to delve deeper into the trading of the subprime mortgage bonds reputed for setting off the financial crisis, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has set its sights on major credit ratings agencies. The SEC is considering bringing civil fraud charges against Standard & Poor's and Moody's Investors Service for their role in positioning mortgage-backed securities that held a high risk of default as grade-A investments.

The American Bankers Association has sent a letter to key lawmakers in the Senate, urging them to reject foreclosure legislation proposed by Sens. Jeff Merkley and Olympia Snowe. Their bill, tagged the Regulation of Mortgage Servicing Act, has been introduced as an amendment to a larger economic development bill being considered. It mandates an independent, third-party case review prior to foreclosure, among other things, and the bankers group says it would prolong the market correction by slowing down legitimate foreclosures.

Vicki Bott, HUD's deputy assistant secretary for single-family housing, is departing the federal agency, a HUD spokesperson has confirmed. Bott joined HUD in September 2009, just as the administration was knee-deep in ramping up and rolling out a host of programs to address the nation's raging foreclosure crisis. At HUD, Bott was responsible for the direction and management of all single-family Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgage insurance programs, including the disposition of repossessed homes.

Commerce Velocity, a member of the Fidelity National Financial family of companies, recently released its Loss Mitigation Borrower Portal. The portal supports the federal requirement instituted by regulators under the consent orders issued to servicers in April for communicating with borrowers via a single point-of-contact (SPOC). It also provides borrowers with a place to review the status of a loan, upload financial documents.

Ongoing deterioration in real estate markets and rising levels of distressed residential and commercial properties are areas of acute concern for officials at the Federal Reserve, as banks' performance and capital continue to be adversely affected. Renewed concerns have surfaced about the health of the mortgage market and home equity loans in particular, while high vacancy rates and declining rents still plague the commercial sector. The Fed says it will take time to make progress on the overhang of distress, and banks should expect continuing losses.

Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette issued criminal investigative subpoenas this week against several third-party firms that provide support to national mortgage servicers. The move is part of the Office of the Attorney General's investigation into questionable mortgage documentation filed with the state's Register of Deeds offices during the current foreclosure crisis. The primary target is the firm DocX. Three other firms affiliated with DocX have also been subpoenaed.

CoreLogic, a provider of information, analytics, and business services, now helps regulated financial institutions meet the federal Interagency Appraisal and Evaluation Guidelines for lending decisions via its new property condition report. The company's new product, OnSite, covers 98.7 percent of parcels in the country, contains local market conditions, and complements automated valuation model (AVM) reports.

Indiana has enacted a new foreclosure law surrounding the state's pre-judgment mediation program, outlining changes related to borrower notification and loss mitigation documentation. Senate Bill 582 passed both chambers of the state Legislature by a near unanimous vote, with only one senator casting a nay, and was quickly signed into law by Gov. Mitch Daniels. The law becomes effective for all new residential foreclosure filings as of July 1.