Mortgage regulator responds to attacks

After exposure of the fact that thousands of Florida’s mortgage originators had received licenses to practice despite criminal backgrounds, the state’s Office of Financial Regulation Commissioner Don Saxon has issued a 40-page explanation of the agency’s performance. Saxon admitted that the agency failed to screen more than 10,000 applicants for federal crimes in 2007, in violation of a 2006 law, and stated a commitment to address the OFR’s problems. The state’s chief financial officer, Alex Sink, called for Saxon’s resignation on Sunday, but needs agreement from at least two of the three remaining members of the agency’s oversight panel in order to oust him.