CompaniesBIO

WASHINGTON — Home buyers feeling financially squeezed by higher interest rates are increasingly being steered by real estate agents and mortgage brokers to potentially riskier types of mortgages, similar to those seen ahead of the 2008 financial crisis, causing concern among some consumer advocates and industry analysts.  Among the loans being promoted to home buyers are adjustable rate mortgages, so-called 2-1 buydowns, which artificially lower rates for the first two years, and interest-only mortgages in which borrowers pay a lower monthly payment for several years by only paying the loan interest, according to interviews with real estate professionals, industry data and a review of marketing material from real estate agents and mortgage brokers.  In all instances, borrowers can find themselves with monthly payments that increase by hundreds of dollars a month after the introductory period, a dynamic seen in the run-up to the last housing market crash when predatory lending resulted...

The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged audit firm RSM US LLP and three senior-level employees with improper professional conduct for failing to properly audit Revolution Lighting Technologies Inc.’s (“Revolution”) financial statements over a four -year period when Revolution was violating accounting principles by inflating revenue with bill and hold sales.  According to the SEC’s order, RSM’s planning and supervision of the audit, as well as the evaluation of audit results and review of Revolution’s disclosures, all failed to adhere to the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board’s auditing and quality control standards. The SEC also charged RSM partners Steven Kirn and Richard Condon and senior audit manager Michael Piqueira for their roles in the improper audits . The SEC’s order against the three employees finds that Kirn, RSM’s lead partner on its Revolution audits, and Piqueira, the senior manager on those audits, failed to adequately plan, supervise, and ...