Compliance & Regulation

President Barack Obama wants banks to step up their efforts to help struggling borrowers stay in their homes by offering principal reductions, extending short-term modifications, and lengthening existing mods.

The chief regulator of all GSEs this week told directors of the 12 Federal Home Loan Banks that they need to keep an eye on the system’s investment portfolios and executive compensation packages.

As lawmakers take up mortgage servicer standards at a hearing Thursday, the Mortgage Bankers Association is advocating a cautious approach to standard-setting while trying to debunk what it says are misconceptions about servicing.

Sen. Tim Johnson, the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, said Tuesday he was not willing to negotiate with Republicans on changes to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Judging from the audience's response at a special session on mortgage credit during the National Association of Realtors' Midyear Legislative Meetings in Washington, appraisals are still a big issue for front-line realty agents.

After months of stalemate, the state attorneys general have proposed new terms to the top five mortgage servicers that drop some controversial provisions of their first attempt at a settlement, including a push to force banks to reduce principal on thousands of mortgages.

Certain small banks have stopped originating Federal Housing Administration loans because of the costs of a new audit requirement that went into effect April 1, according to the Independent Community Bankers of America.

While President Obama is the one who chooses nominees for key financial services policy posts, it is a Republican from Alabama, Sen. Richard Shelby, who appears to have a big say in whether a candidate is actually confirmed.

Reported incidents of subscriber-verified mortgage fraud and misrepresentation by industry professionals have decreased from 2009 to 2010, according to a recent report by the LexisNexis Mortgage Asset Research Institute. Actual incidents, however, as opposed to reported, are believed to be up.

An over-concentration of subprime mortgage-backed securities caused the failure of Members United Corporate Federal Credit Union, the one-time $14 billion corporate CU that is restructuring itself, the National Credit Union Administration said in a new report issued late Monday night.