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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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 -
California Gov. Jerry Brown this week signed three new laws that are part of the Homeowner Bill of Rights aimed at increasing prosecutions for mortgage-related crimes.
September 26 -
Consumer advocates filed a discrimination complaint this week alleging that Bank of America violated fair-housing laws by failing to appropriately maintain and market foreclosed properties in minority neighborhoods.
September 26 -
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau opposes a proposed 20% downpayment requirement for low-risk mortgages.
September 14 -
Astoria Financial has already originated more multifamily and commercial real estate loans this year than it did in all of last year.
September 12 -
A prominent consumer group is bothered that the top five mortgage servicers are stressing short sales under the $25 billion national mortgage settlement when the goal is to keep borrowers in their homes.
September 4 -
A controversial proposal by three California municipalities to seize underwater mortgages through eminent domain could face significant legal challenges because state law prohibits local governments from taking property and conveying it to a private company.
August 27 -
Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo and Ally Financial have been sending mass mailings this year to thousands of distressed homeowners offering refinances, principal reductions and other forms of relief to comply with the national mortgage settlement signed in March.
August 23 -
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s flat fee proposal met resistance from mortgage brokers, loan officers, and consumers who pay discount points.
August 20 -
San Bernardino County unanimously passed a resolution authorizing its staff to create a request for proposal, a formal mechanism for considering plans to address the glut of underwater borrowers.
August 17 -
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's proposed new rules for mortgage servicing were written primarily for the largest players, but it is the small servicers that will have the hardest time absorbing the costs.
August 16
