Compliance & Regulation

Fannie Mae’s latest homeowner outreach program is a website with links to resources and information for borrowers who want to avoid foreclosure.

Consumer groups and top members of the Senate Banking Committee are pressing the Federal Reserve Board to withdraw a plan they claim would eliminate a critical tool for homeowners to get out of risky mortgages.

All Home Equity Conversion Mortgage applications which received case numbers after Dec. 1, 2010 must have contain the revised closing certification, which includes language that pertains to home sellers and purchasers involved in a HECM for Purchase transaction.

The Federal Housing Administration this week issued new guidance to servicers on working with seniors who are in danger of defaulting on their reverse mortgages because they have fallen behind on paying property taxes and homeowners insurance.

New U.S. private-label residential mortgage-backed securitization would have picked up in late 2010 if the slew of developing regulatory requirements taking shape weren’t out there, Jordan Schwartz, partner, Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP, told attendees at listeners to a webcast American Securitization Forum meeting last month.

The Conference of State Bank Supervisors has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's implementation team as a starting point in an effort to coordinate supervision between the two.

The Mortgage Bankers Association wants the Federal Reserve to ease up on its compensation rules allowing production managers who originate loans to share in the profits of their branch office.

The five largest servicers of residential mortgages – including Bank of America and Wells Fargo & Co. – may be the first to settle with 50 state attorneys general who are investigating foreclosure practices, according to combined press reports.

MDA Lending Solutions launched a suite of mortgage fraud prevention software based on the recommendations that Fannie Mae gave the industry in the Loan Quality Initiative.

Many customer advocates warn that identity theft is a problem for all--more so homeowners to whom such a problem can lead to default or foreclosure--need keep in mind during the year. Spokesperson for the National Foundation for Credit Counseling Silver Spring, MD, Gail Cunningham says that even though identity theft risk is higher during the holidays, customers need to regularly check their credit rating reports and other resources designed to help them avoid having access to credit suspended or compromised.