Lend America / Lending Key - Retail, Wholesale - FHA

Citing a host of violations in a press release on 2009-11-30, FHA announced it had withdrawn its approval of Ideal Mortgage Bankers, doing business as Lend America and Lending Key, to originate or underwrite FHA-insured loans effective immediately. From the same report we learn the Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae or GNMA) "defaulted Lend America," which means they are no longer able to issue Ginnie Mae securities. Since Lend America had become a specialist in originating FHA loans and selling them to GNMA, the agencies' actions effectively shut the company's operations down.

Lend America's web site (view snapshot) carried the following announcement:

Effective immediately the company has ceased it loan origination and operations. The company will continue to operate to fulfill its obligations to past and current borrowers, FNMA, GNMA and the regulatory agencies.

Please use the resource links below for more information regarding:

• Customer Service: CustomerService2@lendamerica.com
• Media inquiries: mmcphail@lendamerica.com
• Employee Inquiries: humanresources@lendamerica.com
• Transferring an FHA case number:

1. Send all FHA Case Number Transfer Requests to transfer@lendamerica.com.

2. Please provide the FHA Case Number, your Lender ID, your Sponsor ID (if applicable) to the above email.

3. Within 24 hours, after receipt of email, the case number will be transferred to the proper parties.

If all of this sounds rather familiar, it's because you may have heard the same song and dance not so long ago when FHA and GNMA suddently and unexpectedly called 'curtains' on the operations of Taylor, Bean & Whitaker. The "No Tolerance" policy against lender abuses being preached by FHA Commissioner David Stevens, it seems, is being very aggressively enforced. Lend America dodged FHA's previous attempt to ban them from the program, but the company still has 30 days to challenge this most recent action. HousingWire summed it up as thus:

"FHA;s suspension of Lend America's approval follows an order by a federal judge to deny a Justice Department request to issue a temporary restraining order against Ideal. The judge's denial came after the Justice Department, on behalf of HUD, filed a civil suit against Ideal, alleging Ideal improperly certified borrowers for more than $14m in FHA-insured mortgages."

"Lend America" and "Lending Key" are both dba's for Ideal Mortgage Bankers, Ltd. based in Melville, NY. Touted as a top-20 ranked retail originator, Ideal Mortgage Bankers attempted re-launching its wholesale platform in October of 2009 in a come-back attempt after imploding as a wholesale lender in July of 2008. Regarding the company's 600+ reported employees, National Mortgage News said layoffs were "imminent."

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