WASHINGTON — Federal housing officials on Tuesday served subpoenas on 15 mortgage companies — including Centennial-based Assurity Financial Services LLC — with suspiciously high default rates for loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration. The actions are part of a broad crackdown on dubious lenders as the agency tries to stem losses.
After the housing market went bust, the FHA became the major source of funding for first-time homebuyers. But the agency, which insures roughly 30 percent of new loans, has seen its losses rise drastically. While the agency has avoided a taxpayer rescue so far, its reserves have sunk below the minimum level required by Congress.
There also have been fears that subprime lenders have shifted their business to the FHA after the subprime business went bust.
The agency has already taken action against several problem lenders. One of the nation’s biggest mortgage bankers, Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Mortgage of Ocala, Fla., was banned from the FHA program in August and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
