Compliance & Regulation

Two influential California lawmakers who pushed legislation last year to require lenders to provide borrowers with a decision on their loan modification applications before starting the foreclosure process have made good on their promise to not give up.

As home lenders fret about a forthcoming regulatory proposal on risk retention, Freddie Mac soon will require a little more skin in the game from their borrowers.

At least 20 lenders are participating in FHA's principal reduction program to refinance underwater borrowers with two major lender/servicers launching pilot programs of their own, according to Federal Housing Commissioner David Stevens.

The Home Affordable Modification Program has helped more than 500,000 struggling borrowers with a median annual income of $46,000 remain in their homes, according to the Treasury Department, which found itself defending the program this week.

The 12 Federal Home Loan Banks have voluntarily agreed to rebuild their retained earnings now that their 20-year obligation of making interest payments on $300 billion of Resolution Funding Corp. bonds ends later this year.

Homebuyers struggling to come up with a 20% downpayment can rely on relatives or others to put up half the money under a risk retention proposal federal regulators are about to unveil.

Oldbe: This is a post for regulatory geeks, an attempt to understand the comment in a previous post about the Fed reportedly saying that under the new compensation rule if a broker business receives its compensation from the borrower (not the lender) then the broker must pay his individual loan officer involved with that transaction a salary.

Federal regulators have drafted a 'qualified residential mortgage' rule that mandates a 20% downpayment for such loans while leaving mortgage insurance totally out of the equation -- a move that could prolong the housing recession in several states and decimate the mortgage insurance industry.

After months of infighting, the federal banking agencies have reached an agreement on risk retention standards that would include some new rules for servicers, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The FBI investigation into a massive fraud at U.S. Mortgage Corp. and its CU National subsidiary orchestrated by Michael McGrath was initially uncovered by one of McGrath's business partners, who was negotiating his own plea in a separate mortgage fraud case.