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Practice Areas :
Business
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Mortgage Banking
Patton Boggs is home to one of the nation’s most respected and active mortgage banking practices. Having worked with a wide range of clients in both the residential and commercial mortgage banking industries, we are at the forefront of the evolving regulatory environment for the mortgage banking industry. With more than 50 years of combined experience, our attorneys have represented mortgage companies, financial institutions, secondary market investors, settlement service providers and homebuilders in a range of matters, including regulatory compliance, state and federal licensing, transactions, litigation and administrative enforcement matters. Working with our other financial services attorneys and public policy professionals, our Mortgage Banking Practice is able to provide clients with a complete financial services package.
Compliance
The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and major rulemaking efforts by the Federal Reserve Board (Fed) and Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) are dramatically changing the mortgage lending landscape in the United States. Based on our years of experience and expertise in helping clients navigate the maze of federal and state regulation, we are well positioned to effectively and efficiently assist industry participants in dealing with the challenges that lie ahead, including loan originator compensation and steering restrictions, loan originator overtime requirements, risk retention, repayment ability requirements, other lending standards and restrictions and new disclosure requirements.
Our attorneys regularly assist clients with the alphabet soup of federal laws (including the Truth in Lending Act (TILA), Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA), Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA), Fair Housing Act (FairHA), Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) and Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA)), as well as state laws and agency requirements, in connection with general compliance issues and specific matters. Specific matters include loan originator compensation structures, loan origination disclosures and documents, loan term and fee requirements and restrictions, and loan origination, marketing and lead sale arrangements and agreements. We also work closely with federal and state agencies, including HUD and the Fed, on compliance issues and assist clients in responding to state and federal audits and exams, cease and desist orders and license revocation actions.
In addition, the Mortgage Banking group coordinates with other Patton Boggs practice groups to help clients comply with regulations concerning labor and employment, privacy and data security, e-commerce and other relevant laws.
Repurchase, Coverage and Recovery
Through a multi-disciplinary team, we provide the mortgage and financial services industries the expertise necessary to efficiently, effectively and comprehensively address the complexities of repurchase issues. This innovative approach to handling repurchase issues arms our clients with the ability to resolve not only mortgage banking regulatory, compliance and loan level issues, but also to benefit from novel approaches to insurance coverage issues. Our multi-jurisdictional team is made up of mortgage banking regulatory and compliance lawyers, litigators and insurance coverage attorneys. As mortgage repurchase issues accelerate, the need to have a scalable process in place to address the demands is critical.
Patton Boggs’ Repurchase, Coverage and Recovery attorneys work side by side with our clients to implement processes that mitigate the effects of repurchases. From assessing repurchase demands against our mortgage originator clients’ representations and warranties and identifying the magnitude of risk on financial stability, to evaluating insurance coverage and determining the protection available to the institution, our attorneys are able to quickly determine the most effective approach to limit our clients’ exposure to loss. Additionally, our clients benefit through our collaborative efforts in implementing a comprehensive and efficient internal review process for our clients’ operations to address the increasing volume of repurchase-related issues. Finally, our team of experienced litigators is able to effectively negotiate when needed and fully prepared to litigate when necessary.
State and Federal Licensing
An important part of our Mortgage Banking Practice is dedicated to identifying and obtaining appropriate state and federal licenses and approvals for clients. Our attorneys help clients acquire and maintain the state licenses necessary to engage in mortgage finance or consumer credit finance activities across the country and we advise clients on the loan officer licensing and registration obligations imposed by the S.A.F.E. Act. In addition, we are adept at helping clients meet branch, loan officer, trade name and renewal or recertification requirements and have considerable experience identifying and obtaining licenses and approvals for stock and asset acquisitions.
Transactions, Due Diligence and Audits
Our professionals frequently oversee all transactional affairs for clients, including mergers and acquisitions; liquidation of distressed mortgage assets; purchases and sales of mortgage loans, servicing rights and other assets; formation of joint ventures and strategic alliances; and the establishment of warehousing and other credit facilities. As part of our transactional work, we conduct thorough due diligence on behalf of potential investors to ensure the success of the transaction and identify preventative strategies while minimizing risk.
We also routinely perform compliance audits for our clients, reviewing operations, practices, policies and procedures to ensure compliance and helping to create and facilitate corrective action when necessary. Our extensive audits include reviews of licensing, disclosure and fee policies as well as analyses of loan products and programs, labor and employment procedures, marketing activities and e-commerce initiatives.
Litigation, Administrative Enforcement and Investigations
Combining substantive knowledge of the mortgage banking industry with savvy litigation skills, our Mortgage Banking Practice offers a national reach in mortgage lending and servicing litigation and disputes. Patton Boggs represents clients in litigation ranging from national class actions to single plaintiff cases and our attorneys have successfully represented clients in cases concerning RESPA, TILA, ECOA, FairHA, FCRA, FACTA, HMDA, the GLBA and state consumer protection acts.
Using our in-depth perspective of the regulatory landscape, we also defend clients in administrative enforcement proceedings and investigations, including state and federal audits and exams, fair housing and fair lending complaints and investigations, HUD RESPA enforcement actions and investigations, inspector general investigations and Mortgagee Review Board actions.
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Business Leasing and Finance News (BLFN) Special Summer Edition Issue 90
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MEDIA ADVISORY: Patton Boggs Mortgage Banking Group Prepared to Comment on Launch of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
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New restrictions on Federal Home Loan Banks could undermine stability in US housing sector, economy - Thomson Reuters
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