WASHINGTON – M&T Bank has agreed to pay $64 million to settle U.S. government allegations that it originated defective Federal Housing Administration insured loans over a five-year period.
"M&T Bank bypassed its responsibility to originate and underwrite mortgages in accordance with the standards required by the FHA," First Assistant U.S. Attorney James Kennedy for the Western District of New York, said in announcing the settlement late Friday.
The Department of Justice has reached similar False Claims Act settlements against 15 other FHA lenders over the past few years. In these cases the Justice Department and the Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Inspector General usually contend lenders did not follow the FHA's underwriting and quality control requirements.
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The Federal Housing Administration said Tuesday that it has revised its proposed lender certification requirements in an effort to provide more clarity and reassure lenders they won't be penalized for minor loan defects or mistakes.
March 15 -
Wells Fargo's tentative agreement to pay $1.2 billion to resolve claims by the Justice Department that it made shoddy FHA loans is bad news for other banks that are the targets of similar probes.
February 3 -
M&T Bank's disclosure that it is in settlement talks with the Justice Department for not complying with underwriting guidelines on FHA loans has renewed fears that more lenders will be targeted.
August 7 -
Freedom Mortgage of Mount Laurel, N.J., has agreed to pay $113 million to settle government allegations that it failed to comply with Federal Housing Administration requirements for originating and servicing FHA-insured loans.
April 15
In reviewing closed loans, lenders are expected to self-report any underwriting errors or deficiencies, according to a Justice Department press release. The Justice Department found that M&T Bank, of Buffalo, N.Y., originated hundreds of defective FHA loans between 2006 and 2011 and self-reported only seven defective loans.
The Justice Department also faulted the $125 billion-asset M&T Bank for not adhering to the FHA's methodology for statistical sampling, saying it did not review enough loans.
"Specifically, HUD requires a direct endorsement lender to review either 10% of the FHA loans it originates, or a "statistical random sampling that provides a 95% confidence level with 2% precision. M&T chose to perform the latter, but did not adhere to HUD's 2% precision requirement," according to Justice Department documents.
A former M&T employee, Keisha Kelschenbach, alerted the Justice Department to the M&T's quality control practices. Under the False Claims Act, private citizens can sue on behalf of the government and share in any recovery. The Justice Department noted that Kelschenbach's share of the settlement has not been determined yet.
"This recovery on behalf of the Federal Housing Administration should serve as a reminder of the potential consequences of not following HUD program rules and the value of private citizen assistance, including whistleblowers, in pursuing lenders that violate the rules," said HUD Inspector General David Montoya.
M&T Bank could not be reached for comment, but it told other news outlets that it agreed to settle the matter without admitting liability in order to avoid the expense of potential litigation.
