InfoBytes Blog
Federal Government Obtains Settlement of False Claims Act Claims Against CitiMortgage
On February 15, HUD and the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced that CitiMortgage, Inc. had agreed to settle the government’s claims that CitiMortgage violated the False Claims Act and the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act by failing to comply with certain requirements of the Fair Housing Administration’s Direct Endorsement Lender Program. According to the press release, the defendant submitted certifications stating that certain loans were eligible for FHA mortgage insurance when in fact they were not, causing HUD to unnecessarily incur losses when those loans defaulted. As part of the settlement, which was approved by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, CitiMortgage agreed to pay $158.3 million in damages to the United States.