Compliance & Regulation

Mega-servicers like Bank of America and Ally Financial are kidding themselves if they think they can declare the foreclosure mess behind them after short self-investigations and blithely resume operations as before.

The Federal Housing Administration has rescinded a cap on the combined loan amount of first and second liens that some in the industry considered unnecessarily restrictive.

The Federal Reserve Board should exercise constraint in requiring escrow accounts on certain loans, according to state banking regulators, because it could impair the ability of community banks to originate jumbo loans.

Roy DeLoach is packing it in as CEO of the struggling National Association of Mortgage Brokers, but will serve as the trade group's chief (outside) lobbyist on real estate finance issues.

Sen. Mark Warner, a member of the Senate Banking Committee, called on President Obama to set up a task force to examine the foreclosure paperwork issue that has stalled thousands of foreclosures and raised questions about their legality.

As the mortgage industry tries to entice private investors back into the space, lenders are looking to technology to provide data verification and analysis of the loans they're originating, according to a panel discussion at the Mortgage Bankers Association convention and expo in Atlanta.

Arguably the most outspoken, staunchly conservative member of the House Financial Services Committee, Rep. Jeb Hensarling appears eager to help shape the panel's agenda next year if the Republicans seize the House in next week's elections.

Mortgage bankers relied on MERS to be responsible for all of the documentation used in the home buying process, and as a result few in the industry looked at the paper work after the fact, said Becky Walzak, president and CEO at RJB Walzak Consulting Inc.

Residential appraisers should command higher fees now that new regulations will require lenders and appraisal management companies to pay them "customary and reasonable" compensation.

A handful of state attorneys general are taking a hard line with mortgage servicers by demanding loan modifications and principal reductions for those borrowers whose rights may have been violated by robo-signing.