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"The culture among executives at TARP applicant Bank of the Commonwealth was rotten to its core, and Fields . . . was a principal contributor to the stench of entitlement and corruption at the bank," Romero said. "As a former bank examiner, Fields should have stopped and blown the whistle, but instead, he engaged in an extended and pretend scheme to mask pastdue loans, rigged auctions to get foreclosed property off the bank's books, and lied to bank examiners. For his fraud and role in running the bank into the ground, Fields will spend the next 17 years in federal prison and will have ample time to think about how he ended up at the center of one of the largest bank frauds in Virginia's history." Fields was found guilty after a 10-week jury trial that concluded in his conviction on May 24. According to evidence presented in the trial, Field extended lines of credit to a group of co-conspirators who used it to buy bank stock and make payments on other loans. He also took out loans on properties to make payments on other past-due loans to prevent them from appearing on the bank's past-due loan reports. Fields profited personally from his activities, and directly contributed to the failure of the bank in September 2011, which cost the FDIC more than $330 million. His prosecution was a joint effort of SIGTARP and President Obama's Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. Freddie Mac and Citigroup Settle Buyback Dispute Citigroup and Freddie Mac reached an agreement to settle potential future repurchase claims on millions of loans sold to the GSE in the last decade. According to a release from Citi, the bank will pay the McLean, Virginia-based GSE $395 million, all of which is covered by its existing mortgage repurchase reserves as of the end of the second quarter. The agreement covers claims for breaches of representations and warranties on 3.7 million loans sold between 2000 and 2012. It does not release Citi from liability for the bank's servicing or other obligations on the included loans. Also not included are less than 1,000 loans sold with resource or some guarantee of performance and those currently in the repurchase process. Citi says it is "adequately reserved" for those loans not covered by the agreement. 94 The agreement is the latest in Citi's efforts to clear up legal issues stemming from the housing collapse. The bank settled with Fannie Mae in July over similar claims. Genworth Expands Simply Underwrite Program Genworth U.S. Mortgage Insurance (USMI) announced it will reduce rates and expand its Simply Underwrite program, which simplifies the underwriting process for customers that deliver loans through the automated underwriting systems of the GSEs. The credit policy changes will more closely align Genworth's approval process with the automated programs utilized by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Loans of up to 97 percent loan-to-value that are approved by the GSEs will likely be approved for mortgage insurance under the expanded program. KNOW THIS Servicers provided $980,876,725 in consumer relief to Virginia homeowners under the National Mortgage Settlement as of the end of 2012. Washington rank: 26 90+ Day Delinquency Rate Foreclosure Rate August 2013 2.7% Unemployment Rate 2.0% 7.0% year ago 4.3% 2.7% 8.2% year-over-year change -37.6% -26.8% -14.6% Top County 90+ Day Delinquency Rate PierCe CounTy Foreclosure Rate August 2013 4.0% 3.1% year ago 6.1% 4.0% year-over-year change -35.2% -23.5% Top Core-Based Statistical Area ShelTon, WA 90+ Day Delinquency Rate Foreclosure Rate August 2013 3.6% 2.8% year ago 4.9% 3.7% year-over-year change -26.4% -24.8% note: The 90+ day delinquecy rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans that are seriously delinquent. The foreclosure rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans currently in foreclosure. State rank is based on the August 2013 foreclosure rate. All figures are rounded to the nearest decimal. The unemployment rate reflects preliminary August 2013 figures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. All other data courtesy of LPS Data & Analytics. IN THE NEWS Borrowers Find Holistic Financial Advice Through PostMod Counseling More than 11,000 homeowners have participated in Fannie Mae's post-modification counseling since 2011, according to a recent blog post on the GSE's Housing Industry Forum website. Recognizing that many homeowners continue to struggle with their finances after receiving loan modifications, Fannie developed the post-modification counseling program to take a holistic approach to individual finances and set borrowers on a sustainable path. "The industry is starting to look at a homeowner's entire financial picture, not just their mortgage," said Fannie Mae's Joe Weisbord, director of foreclosure prevention, according to the blog post. "We can put someone in a position to have success with [his or her] mortgage, but if [he or she] insufficient income or excessive non-housing debt, [that person] ultimately not going to succeed," he said. About 47 percent of borrowers said they were open to financial counseling, according to a survey conducted by Fannie Mae's National Servicing Organization. Consisting of four sessions and a host of online tools, the post-mod counseling program offers borrowers who receive loan modifications 12 months of counseling to help them create a viable budget, reduce household debt, and gain a strong financial footing. The program is free, and homeowners may drop out at any time, but according to Fannie Mae, "once clients become involved, they typically stick with it." Fannie introduced a small test program in 2010 before releasing the program more broadly in 2011. While many homeowners are still navigating the program, the GSE has found that between 75 and 80 percent of those who complete the first counseling session go on to the next session, Bob Kantor, director of foreclosure prevention and counseling at Fannie Mae, told DS News. The numbers are preliminary findings, but the general sentiment is that once enrolled in the program, homeowners are taking advantage of its offerings, which include counseling by phone and Web-based tools.

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