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84 IN THE NEWS Former Bank Exec Pleads Guilty to Defrauding Investors, Regulators A former bank executive pleaded guilty to charges of defrauding regulators and his bank's shareholders, the special inspec- tor general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP) and other investigators announced recently. Don A. Langford, 63, a former SVP and chief credit officer for Lincoln, Nebraska- based TierOne Bank (a former TARP fund applicant), pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit securities fraud, wire fraud, and making false entries in a bank's books and records, as well as one count of making false statements, according to Christy Romero, SIGTARP. Langford is scheduled to be sentenced on December 5. Langford, who now resides in Gibsonia, Pennsylvania, entered his guilty plea before U.S. Magistrate Judge Cheryl R. Zwart of the District of Nebraska. e criminal inves- tigation revealed Langford and his associates were able to cover up millions of dollars in losses by falsifying the value of TierOne's loan and real estate portfolio in reports to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Office of rift Supervision (OTS) from at least 2009 to April 2010. TierOne submitted an application to OTS in 2008 to receive monetary assistance from the government's Troubled Asset Relief Pro- gram (TARP) but eventually withdrew the application without receiving any funds. OTS shut down TierOne in June 2010, and the bank filed for bankruptcy shortly afterward. "Langford, former TierOne senior execu- tive and chief credit officer, conspired with others to hide losses at the bank by cooking the bank's books and reporting falsified informa- tion to stakeholders, regulators, external audi- tors, and the investing public," Romero said. "Langford and others engaged in fraud in order to keep regulators at bay and from clos- ing the bank, to maintain and increase the bank's stock price, and to enrich themselves," Romero continued. "e bank even made an unsuccessful attempt to get taxpayer TARP funds in November 2008. SIGTARP and our law enforcement officers will bring to justice perpetrators of fraud related to TARP and hold them accountable for their crimes." North Dakota RANK: 46 90+ Day Foreclosure Unemployment Delinquency Rate Rate Rate AUGUST 2014 0.47% 0.60% 2.8 YEAR AGO 0.55% 0.81% 2.9 YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -13.5% -26.4% -0.1 Top County TRAILL COUNTY 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate AUGUST 2014 0.46% 1.45% YEAR AGO 0.96% 1.41% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -52.3% 2.7% Top Core-Based Statistical Area WAHPETON, ND-MN 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate AUGUST 2014 1.13% 0.80% YEAR AGO 0.57% 1.27% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE 98.1% -36.5% 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 2014 foreclosure rate. All fi gures are rounded to the nearest decimal. The unemployment rate refl ects preliminary August 2014 fi gures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. All other data courtesy of LPS Data & Analytics. IN THE NEWS U.S. Bank, HUD Settle Discrimination Allegations U.S. Bank has reached a settlement with a housing regulator over allegations the bank discriminated against a Native American couple in denying them a refinance. In a complaint filed with HUD, the couple alleged U.S. Bank and its appraiser, Red Sky Risk Services, turned down their re- finance application last year, informing them that the bank couldn't make the loan because their property was located on a reservation and could not be appraised. Located on the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation in North Dakota, the property is considered to be held in "fee simple," accord- ing to HUD, meaning the couple holds the title without restriction. "A person's race and national origin have no effect on their creditworthiness," said Gustavo Velasquez, HUD's assistant secre- tary for fair housing and equal opportunity. "HUD will continue to work to give all fami- lies an equal opportunity at homeownership by ensuring that lenders meet their obligation to comply with the Fair Housing Act." Under the settlement's terms, U.S. Bank agreed to pay the couple's U.S. Bank credit card balance, amounting to nearly $11,500. e bank also agreed to approve their refi- nance application at the same interest rate and terms under which they originally applied in May 2013. In addition, both U.S. Bank and Red Sky Risk Services agreed to change their policies and train their employees regarding mortgage loans on land located within Native Ameri- can reservations in order to be consistent with the Fair Housing Act. In the agreement, U.S. Bank and Red Sky denied intentionally discriminating against the complainants and did not make any ad- mission of violating the Fair Housing Act. Ohio RANK: 16 90+ Day Foreclosure Unemployment Delinquency Rate Rate Rate AUGUST 2014 2.55% 2.00% 5.7 YEAR AGO 2.80% 2.81% 7.5 YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -8.9% -28.6% -1.8 Top County ASHTABULA COUNTY 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate AUGUST 2014 3.79% 3.96% YEAR AGO 3.52% 5.33% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE 7.7% -25.7% Top Core-Based Statistical Area ASHTABULA, OH 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate AUGUST 2014 3.79% 3.96% YEAR AGO 3.52% 5.33% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE 7.7% -25.7% 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 2014 foreclosure rate. All fi gures are rounded to the nearest decimal. The unemployment rate refl ects preliminary August 2014 fi gures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. All other data courtesy of LPS Data & Analytics. North Dakota's unemployment rate of 2.4 percent for September 2014 was far below the national average of 6.1 percent, according to RealtyTrac. KNOW THIS

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