Compliance & Regulation

New research shows that only one-fifth of loans the GSEs purchase would meet the regulators’ definition for “qualified residential mortgages” and would be exempt from the 5% risk retention requirement in the Dodd-Frank Act.

The FHA has critical lending programs for homebuyers, particularly first-timers, but will have to stop endorsing new mortgages if Congress cannot agree on a budget deal with the White House by midnight Friday and the federal government is forced to shutdown.

For thrifts that have long harbored ambitions of converting to commercial banks, an upcoming regulatory merger is forcing hard decisions.

Two broker trade groups filed their arguments in an appellate court Tuesday morning, hoping to stop the Federal Reserve Board's controversial rule on how loan officers are paid. A decision could come by close of day.

The number of completed foreclosures fell by nearly 50% from the third to the fourth quarters as servicers came under pressure from state and federal regulators to correct their foreclosures processes and agree to a civil settlement.

Elizabeth Warren, the Obama administration official in charge of setting up the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, again defended her role in a pending settlement between several state and federal agencies and the top 5 mortgage servicers.

The former chief executive of Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Mortgage, Paul R. Allen, admitted to his role in what prosecutors say was a $1.9 billion fraud that included attempts to deceive the federal bank bailout program.

To clear up mortgage ownership issues quickly, banks and servicers should set up a multi-billion dollar fund to pay homeowners who are willing to accept their ownership of the mortgage note, according to Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. chairman Sheila Bair.

Despite an 11th-hour reprieve that delayed the Federal Reserve's loan officer compensation rule from taking effect at least until Tuesday, the mortgage industry's chances of overturning the rule are slim.

Only a "small fraction" of the nation's 3,000-plus counties will be impacted when the formula that determines the conforming loan limit changes in October, according to an analysis by the Federal Housing Finance Agency.