Kate Berry

The government-sponsored enterprise is keeping a running list of appraisers that it views as shady and is warning banks and mortgage lenders to be careful about doing business with them.

A Moody's report suggests that roughly a dozen regional banks are at risk of sustaining meaningful credit losses on home-equity lines of credit that were originated in the boom years and are scheduled to reset over the next three years.

Some banks will be leery about originating loans to the self-employed because they can't document their ability to repay, but others insist that such loans, even outside of QM, are too lucrative to ignore.

Despite the risks, lenders have calculated that certain loans that fall outside of QM are worth making and holding on their balance sheets.

So far, the big mortgage servicers have received stellar report cards for their compliance with the $25 billion national settlement. That could change this year as testing gets tougher—potentially costing these companies further embarrassment and penalties.

A hike in guarantee fees could encourage banks to retain loans they might have otherwise sold to Fannie or Freddie, but observers are skeptical that it will accomplish its true mission of jump-starting the market for private-label mortgage securitizations.

The g-fee changes should encourage further return of private capital to the mortgage market, says Ed Demarco, as the price changes provide better protection of and return to taxpayers who are providing the capital support that keeps these companies operating.

Though bankers generally applauded the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's final rule on mortgage disclosures, they are raising concerns that some of the changes need to be fixed or they'll have no choice but to assess higher fees at the closing.

Nationstar, Ocwen and Walter Investment picked a tough time to make an aggressive push into mortgage lending, but their efforts could pay off once new mortgage rules kick in.

Concern is mounting that Nationstar, Ocwen Financial and Walter Investment are getting so big so quickly that they are becoming too difficult to manage and should consider tapping the brakes on acquisitions.

The 92-year-old thrift is doubling down on home lending after its mortgage unit posted a net loss of $2.2 million in the third quarter.

The cost to originate a home loan is skyrocketing as lenders try to comply with stricter rules to catch problem loans. Technology would better automate the loan process, but can small lenders justify the investment?

Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Wells Fargo got credit for providing $15.4 billion in relief to roughly 420,000 underwater borrowers last year, according to the settlement monitor.

The Federal Housing Administration has joined Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in calling for mortgage lenders to temporarily postpone mortgage payments for furloughed government employees and contractors who have been affected by the shutdown.

Almost everyone has an opinion about how to reform Fannie and Freddie, but some housing experts say the status quo isn't so bad.

Consumer delinquency rates rose slightly in the second quarter but remain at historic lows, according to the American Bankers Association.

The nation's four largest banks are holding $57 billion of seriously delinquent loans that they've been slow to move into foreclosure over concerns that the Federal Housing Administration will refuse to cover the losses and hit them with damages.

The Federal Housing Administration has asked the Treasury Department for a $1.7 billion bailout, but its commissioner and others say the agency does not actually need the money.

Battered by defaults on loans it insures, the Federal Housing Administration is expected to tap the Treasury Department for $1 billion to $1.5 billion to plug a budget shortfall.

For the first time ever, the GSEs are creating formal programs to flag defective loans and assess risks in lenders' mortgage processes.