Guild latest lender to settle with FDIC over WaMu legacy loans

Guild Mortgage is the latest mortgage lender to settle claims with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. regarding mortgages brokered to the failed Washington Mutual and its Long Beach Mortgage subsidiary, which were then securitized.

WaMu failed in 2008 and following its seizure by the Office of Thrift Supervision, was taken over by the FDIC, which then sold its deposits and assets to JPMorganChase. Deutsche Bank was the trustee on mortgage-backed securitizations which contained those loans and it sued the FDIC the following year seeking indemnification.

That case was settled in 2017 for $3 billion. The FDIC gave Deutsche Bank an unsecured claim from the receivership estate; a related settlement was entered into between the government agency and JPMorgan Chase.

Now, through a series of 16 legal actions, FDIC is seeking to obtain the funds to pay that claim. The cases are grouped together on the FDIC website under the heading "Mortgage Malpractice and Mortgage Fraud Lawsuits Filed from July 1, 2018 to Present."

Details of the settlement between Guild and the FDIC were not posted on the Pacer system. A May 17 filing by the FDIC announced the agreement and Judge Cormac Carney of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California dismissed the case on the same day.

Neither Guild or the FDIC commented on the settlement.

Others that have agreed to settle are The Mortgage Link, Trustworthy Mortgage, Everett Financial (doing business as Supreme Lending), ARK-LA-TEX Financial Services (Benchmark Mortgage) and Cal Coast Financial.

The case against PNC Bank, which is the successor in interest to National City Bank and its mortgage subsidiary following their merger in 2008, was dismissed without a settlement.

A default judgment against RealFi Home Funding Corp., formerly known as Residential Home Funding Corp., is being sought in the Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York. The company's website said it is no longer in business.

RealFi did not file an answer to the complaint or otherwise make a motion in the case and as a result, "the default of the defendant is hereby noted," according to a May 14 filing by the clerk of the court.

However, several cases are headed to trial according to docket information, including against Mortgage Management Consultants, New Jersey Lenders, Freedom Mortgage, Primary Residential Mortgage, CTX Mortgage (the mortgage lending business of Centex that is now a part of Pulte after those homebuilders merged) and America West Bank Members.

The case involving American Nationwide Mortgage looks to be on a slower timetable following Judge Carney's recusal on Feb. 22 because of a financial interest. This matter has been reassigned to Judge James Selna, with a scheduling conference set for July 15.