DS News

28 SUBCOMMITTEE TESTIMONY REVEALS VIOLATIONS BY HUD OFFICIALS Investigators from HUD's Office of Inspector Gen- eral (HUD OIG) and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) testified before the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investiga- tions that some senior officials at HUD violated federal law and obstructed investigators' efforts to uncover wrongdoing. Some of the individuals identified were presiden- tially appointed and Senate-confirmed, according to testimony. HUD Inspector General David Montoya testified to the subcommittee that some senior officials were guilty of "outright misconduct." Witnesses offered testimony to the subcommittee that senior HUD employees violated federal employ- ment law practices as well as HUD policies by hiring Debra Gross, a former registered lobbyist, for a position with HUD's Office of Public and Indian Housing. Witnesses said Gross misused her position with HUD to further an agenda favorable to her former employer's public housing groups and also by hiring two HUD employees without proper vetting. e HUD Inspector General found that Gross ob- structed the investigation of these actions by "providing false statements to investigators" and denying key HUD officials access to pre-employment email communica- tions. Witnesses testified that the two employees were "less than forthcoming" regarding their hiring and both stated they were never interviewed prior to being hired. In a separate case, HUD's Inspector General testified that then Deputy Secretary Maurice Jones and four other senior HUD officials violated HUD's administrative policies by engaging in a grassroots lobbying campaign. Witnesses said Jones and the four others re-transmitted a July 21, 2013 email urging 1,000 recipients to lobby specified senators regarding a pending appropriations bill. In addition to violating HUD policy, GAO found dissemination of this email by Jones and the others to be in violation of federal anti-lobbying laws. Testimony before the subcommittee also revealed certain HUD officials attempted to obstruct the investi- gation in that case by attempting to improperly influence witnesses, threatening investigators from HUD OIG they would be "charged as a result of their inappropriate actions," and withholding information regarding their involvement with the dissemination of the email. "(T)hat case illustrated what can happen when senior government officials veer from the course of ethical decision-making, skirt the edges, and act in a manner that is not in the government's best interest," Montoya told the subcommittee. Montoya testified that a HUD OIG report issued last year regarding the anti-lobbying investigation de- tailed attempts by HUD officials to cover up their illegal activity, but he said HUD took "no formal disciplinary action" in response to the report of the investigation. "At the time, I found those revelations troubling, but I had hoped we could chalk it up to a few bad apples at HUD," said U.S. Representative Sean Duffy (R- Wisconsin), chairman of the subcommittee. "But we're back here today to discuss what happened with those so called 'bad apples' because of other, completely unrelated allegations that have surfaced." Rogers Townsend & Thomas Elects Two Shareholders Rogers Townsend & Thomas, announced that default services attorneys Robert P. Davis and Michael L. Spicer have been elected shareholders in the firm. Davis serves as the South Carolina operations attorney for the firm's default services department in the Columbia, South Carolina office. He manages the firm's large default services staff in South Carolina. Davis concentrates his practice in real estate, evictions, contested foreclosures, and many other foreclosure related issues. Spicer is based in the firm's Charlotte, North Carolina, office. His practice focuses on uncontested foreclosures, evictions, and other foreclosure-related litigation.His clients include mortgage lenders, mortgage servicers, and substitute trustees in residential and commercial foreclosure-related matters and foreclosure-related litigation in North Carolina. ARMCO Announces New COO Aces Risk Management (ARMCO) has tapped mortgage quality control expert Phil McCall to serve as COO. McCall brings more than two decades of experience in quality control, loan origination and underwriting, mortgage fraud, loss and litigation, and real-estate based transactions to the firm. Previously, he held executive positions for three private mortgage banking firms. MiT National Land Services Recruits Leader for National Division National HED insurance firm MiT National Land Services added Daniel Eckert to its team to run the company's national division. Eckert's HED career spans 25 years and has seen him working with clients ranging from real estate investment trusts to banks to large loan officers. Throughout his career, MiT says he's earned a reputation as a leader in providing HED and settlement-related services for clients. MOVERS & SHAKERS KEEP UP WITH WHO'S DOING WHAT AND WHO WENT WHERE Got something to share with us? Send it to Editor@DSNews.com. CFPB Bulletin Reminds Financial Institutions of Supervisory Information Confidentiality e Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released a bulletin in late January to remind supervised financial institutions of the existing regulatory require- ments regarding the confidentiality of supervisory information. Included in the bulletin were non-bank financial institutions that may be unfamiliar with federal supervision. "e CFPB's supervision program holds companies account- able for how they treat consumers," CFPB Director Richard Cordray said. "e bureau's oversight of banks and nonbanks alike helps to level the playing field for all companies, and to ensure a fair and transparent marketplace for consumers." Banks and credit unions with assets totaling more than $10 billion fall under the supervision of the CFPB, as well as certain nonbank financial companies, such as mort- gage lenders and servicers, payday lenders, and private student lenders, as well certain large debt collec- tors, consumer reporting agencies, student loan servicers, and inter- national remittance providers. e CFPB's bulletin provides guidance as far as what types of information should be defined as confidential supervisory information and states that with limited exceptions, disclosure of such information is not allowed. e CFPB stated in the bulletin that its existing supervisory author- ity over an institution is not limited or altered by any non-disclosure agreement that institution has entered into that may restrict it from sharing information with a regulator or requires the institu- tion to notify a third party when it shares information, nor are the institution's obligations relating to confidential supervisory informa- tion changed or altered in any way.

• Cover