Compliance & Regulation

Borrowers with variable-rate debt affected by Federal Reserve rate hikes showed they could handle December's 25-basis-point increase, but that could be changing as short-term rates continue to rise.

The discounts that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac used to offer large originators for selling them bulk bundles of mortgages continue to haunt small lenders, who worry a new housing finance system could revive the practice.

Ocwen Financial Corp. agreed to settle a shareholder lawsuit for a cash payment of $49 million, plus 2.5 million shares of the company's stock.

A former California mortgage lender agreed to pay $4.2 million to settle civil fraud allegations that its lending practices in the Southeast caused taxpayers to lose millions of dollars when homeowners defaulted on their loans after the Great Recession.

The marketplace lender's application for an industrial bank charter is under fire from small banks and progressives, who say it could violate the barrier between banking and commerce and shut out middle-class and lower-income consumers.

U.S. District Judge André Birotte has dismissed all federal claims against Renovate America and its government bond-issuing partners in three lawsuits that had sought class-action status.

California Gov. Jerry Brown and legislative leaders announced that the state's housing crisis will be at the top of their agenda when lawmakers return in August from a month-long break.

Most U.S. voters, including those who identify as Republicans, support the Dodd-Frank financial reform law and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, according to a poll conducted in late June.

Federal regulators issued a proposal Tuesday that would increase the threshold at which commercial real estate transactions require an appraisal, a move that could give some lenders sizable relief.

House lawmakers including Jeb Hensarling are preparing to move on a series of targeted regulatory relief bills in an effort to give Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, more leeway when he tries to craft a relief measure.