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Maine’s Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection, an agency within the Department of Professional and Financial Regulation, announces the release of a new, comprehensive mortgage guide, titled The Downeaster Common Sense Guide to Finding, Buying and Keeping Your Maine Home. Free to Maine residents, this 32-page booklet provides information for those contemplating the purchase and financing of a home. Covered topics include

AUGUSTA - June 4, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- The practice of ‘robo-signing’ documents that led to widespread abuses by national mortgage servicing companies led to a landmark $1.5 billion settlement against five of America’s largest firms. About 1,379 Maine residents will begin receiving checks today that average approximately $1,480

AUGUSTA - January 03, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- Attorney General William J. Schneider announced that eligible Maine borrowers who lost their homes due to foreclosure between January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2011 must file a National Mortgage Settlement Claim form by January 18th in order to receive a cash payment from a $1.9 million fund set aside for this purpose.

WASHINGTON, DC - March 7, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, Congressman Mike Michaud, Ranking Member of the Veterans’ Affairs Health Subcommittee, praised the announcement that servicemembers and veterans hurt by mortgage abuses will be provided relief. According to the White House, this relief coming from mortgage servicers is in addition to the over $25 billion committed through the previously announced settlement completed by the federal government and 49 state Attorneys General last month.

February 13, 2012 - (RealEstateRama) -- Attorney General William J. Schneider announced that Maine joined a landmark $25 billion joint federal-state agreement and the nation’s five largest mortgage servicers over foreclosure abuses, fraud and unacceptable nationwide mortgage servicing practices.

GARDINER, ME - October 19, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Bureau of Financial Institutions’ Superintendent Lloyd P. LaFountain, III has released results from a quarterly survey covering residential mortgage loans held by Maine’s 32 state-chartered banks and credit unions. The survey shows a favorable trend in seriously delinquent mortgages, which dropped to their lowest level since June 2010. The survey also found the number of loans dropping out of the foreclosure process due to a reason other than foreclosure to be the highest since tracking began. Additionally, new mortgage loan originations increased 9% over the prior quarter.

June 24, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Lloyd P. LaFountain, III, Superintendent of Maine’s Bureau of Financial Institutions reported mixed news from the first quarter survey covering residential mortgage loans held by Maine’s 32 state-chartered banks and credit unions

AUBURN, ME - April 11, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Reliant Mortgage Company, LLC. is proud to announce the alliance of Janice Wescott and Brendan Fontaine’s team (formerly New England Home Loans) to establish a very exciting, powerful mortgage banking team for the benefit of the residents and Real Estate community of Androscoggin County and it’s surrounding towns. Together the team adds over 40 years of mortgage banking experience to Auburn to ensure that every resident looking to purchase or refinance a home will get the absolute best & most enjoyable mortgage financing experience, unlike anything currently offered here. Reliant is currently planning a social gathering and open house celebration for members of the Real Estate community to commemorate this announcement

Sanford, ME - January 27, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Reliant Mortgage Company of Sanford, ME has announced that it has been named the #1 Mortgage Company of the Greater Sanford/Springvale area for 2011.

November 25, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Attorney General Mills announced progress in her negotiations with GMAC Mortgage LLC and Bank of America regarding their foreclosure practices in Maine. GMAC has agreed that it will temporarily halt sales on homes that have been foreclosed on, pending further talks to resolve the Attorney General’s concerns about the company’s foreclosure procedures

Washington, DC - October 21, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Senator Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine) is urging Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to reinforce their commitment to safeguarding the legal rights of borrowers in view of recent allegations of defective and flawed foreclosure documentation at several of the nation’s largest mortgage lenders. Senator Snowe’s comments were made following today’s announcement by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, government sponsored enterprises placed into conservatorship of the FHFA in 2008 and currently financed by taxpayers, would need as much as an additional $215 billion over the next three years to meet their financial obligations.

Augusta, ME - October 18, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Attorney General Janet Mills is joining a coordinated national effort by state regulators and Attorneys General to investigate the practice of so-called “robo-signing” in the mortgage servicing industry.The Mortgage Foreclosure Multistate Group, comprised of state attorneys general in 50 states and state banking and mortgage regulators in thirty states, including Maine, will investigate whether individual mortgage servicers have improperly submitted documents in support of foreclosures. Specifically, the group will look into whether companies misrepresented on affidavits and other documents that they reviewed and verified documentation supporting foreclosure actions. The group will also determine whether companies signed affidavits outside the presence of a notary public or committed other irregularities regarding residential mortgage foreclosures. (See attached joint multistate group statement)

October 4, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Five Maine residents filed a complaint today against GMAC Mortgage, LLC (GMAC) on behalf of themselves and a class of Maine homeowners, alleging that the company routinely and systematically files false certifications that it has a right to foreclose on Maine homeowners, and false affidavits when asking courts to enter foreclosure judgments

AUGUSTA, ME - September 21, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Bureau of Financial Institutions Superintendent Lloyd P. LaFountain, III announced this week that second quarter 2010 data submitted by Maine state-chartered banks and credit unions shows a decrease in completed home foreclosures in Maine. Additionally, the number of delinquent mortgage loans declined for the second consecutive quarter.

July 30, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- A Hancock County Superior Court jury convicted Eric S. Murphy, Jr. of Ellsworth on Wednesday in connection with an investment scam Murphy ran in conjunction with his residential construction loan business. Murphy, a former mortgage loan broker whose license was revoked by the Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection in April, 2009, was found guilty of taking approximately $450,000 from 4 investors under false pretenses during the period October, 2006 through April, 2008. Instead of using funds received from investors to fund mortgage loans for consumers, Murphy used the bulk of the proceeds for his own business and personal purposes.