Kate Berry has covered the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for American Banker since 2016. She joined the publication in 2006 covering mortgage lending and the financial crisis. Berry also has covered big banks including Bank of America, J.P. Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo. She has won five awards from the Society of American Business Writers and Editors, and has worked at several news organizations including the Orange County Register, the Los Angeles Business Journal and the Associated Press. Berry began her career as a clerk at the New York Times.
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Now that Quicken Loans has licensed its loan origination platform to JPMorgan Chase, the online lender is looking to grow profits by selling its mortgage technology to more banks.
February 1 -
Richard Cordray's recess appointment to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau may ultimately be invalidated, but legal experts say several recent mortgage regulations approved on his watch may still be upheld.
January 29 -
The No. 2 home lender will market the government's Home Affordable Refinancing Program to hundreds of thousands of customers acquired from MetLife. To speed closings, it's licensing Quicken Loans' technology.
January 23 -
JPMorgan Chase plans to eke out every last profit from the government's Home Affordable Refinance Program for underwater borrowers.
January 23 -
Even before the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau comes out with rules this week to address servicing failures, the National Consumer Law Centerat is crying foul.
January 16 -
The Federal Housing Administration is certain to be the target of major reform efforts by Congress.
December 21 -
Former IndyMac Bank chief executive Michael Perry has settled claims with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
December 17 -
Joseph A. Smith, the former North Carolina banking commissioner who now heads the Office of Mortgage Settlement Oversight, has been touring the West Coast to gauge the servicers' progress by speaking with the folks "on the ground."
December 10 -
Lots of financial institutions use social media as a marketing and customer service tool, but few have figured out how to actually make money from it.
November 30 -
A group of community activists called on the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency Tuesday to give Wells Fargo a failing grade on its upcoming Community Reinvestment Act examination, citing its lending practices in minority communities and a "usurious" payday-like loan product.
November 23 -
Joseph A. Smith is encouraging service members and their advocates to report mortgage-servicing complaints by using two online forms provided on the settlement monitor’s website.
November 13 -
Even as it continues to staff up to meet surging demand for refinancings, Bank of America is laying the groundwork for a return to traditional mortgage lending when the refi boom ends.
November 9 -
Lender Processing Services agreed to pay $1.3 million and reimburse $500,000 in fees and costs to the attorney general’s office.
October 31 -
They say including such data would allow independent monitor Joseph Smith to test if servicers are providing adequate relief in low-income communities, but Smith's hands may be tied by the language of the settlement agreement.
October 31 -
A spokeswoman for Wells Fargo said the refunds were not prompted by any regulatory action -- nor are they related to a federal lawsuit filed early this month by the U.S. Attorney in New York.
October 30 -
Aside from those potentially game-changing rules, banks are also facing higher guarantee fees by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and higher premiums for Federal Housing Administration loans.
October 23 -
Lawyers are paid to give advice to their mortgage banking clients, but when it comes to residential finance and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau they're actually advising firms to limit contact with their attorneys.
October 12 -
Many mortgage bankers aren't waiting around for regulators to define what a qualified mortgage is and instead are writing their own rules, including strict about debt-to-income ratios.
October 8 -
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will ferret out lenders—bank and nonbank alike—with large numbers of consumer complaints.
October 4 -
Mike Perry, the former CEO of now-defunct alt-A giant IndyMac, has agreed to settle the last remaining negligence claim against him by the Securities and Exchange Commission by paying an $80,000 fine.
October 2
