06/22/09

BOSTON (AP) _ A Florida-based firm has agreed to pay
Massachusetts and 13 other states $9 million to help them oversee
the company's mortgage lending practices.

The state Division of Banks said the agreement was reached with
Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corp. after a multistate
examination of nontraditional loans issued by the firm in 2006.

The loans include interest-only mortgages, payment option
adjustable-rate mortgages, and stated income loans.

The firm, one of the ten largest wholesale mortgage lenders in
the country, stopped offering nontraditional mortgages in 2007. It
has also agreed to hire an outside company to review the loans.

The firm did not immediately return a request for comment.

The agreement also covers Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Idaho,
Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New Jersey, North
Carolina, Pennsylvania, Vermont and the District of Columbia.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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