Compliance & Regulation

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are maintaining their ban on loan officers and mortgage brokers getting involved in the appraisal process, even though the Federal Reserve recently loosened its position on the issue.

Bank of America late Tuesday said it is "not responsible" for the "poor" performance of mortgages "as a result of a bad economy," and defended its role as a servicer on billions of dollars in outstanding home loans.

If Rep. Scott Garrett has his way next year, the new congressionally mandated Consumer Federal Protection Bureau is toast.

A former loan originator in the wholesale business is pondering getting back into the market as a loan officer after being gone for three years. Grapevine users share their opinions on current volume, the future of interest rates, and the prospect of making money down the line.

While fraud risk had trended down dramatically through 2008 and even into early 2009, in mid-2009 and 2010, it started to creep back up again, according to Frank McKenna, vice president of fraud strategy for analytics provider CoreLogic.

Any mortgage fraud reported today might not get dealt with until at least two years from now because federal agents are still dealing with cases from 2005-2008, Federal Bureau of Investigation agents told the Northeast Conference of Mortgage Brokers in Atantic City, N.J.

WASHINGTON—It seems no one is going to escape scrutiny now that the 50 state attorneys general and the GSEs are requiring almost every servicer to review their foreclosure processing procedures.

Major mortgage servicers’ internal reviews of foreclosure documents extend far beyond robo-signers’ affidavits verifying a borrower’s mortgage debt.

The California 4th District Court of Appeal held that brokers for home sellers have a legal duty to tell buyers about mortgage problems such as a short sale where existing lender may not accept less than what is owed and that might prevent sales from closing. Brokers are "obligated to disclose to the buyers" when there is "a substantial risk that the seller [can] not transfer title free and clear of monetary liens and encumbrances."

The American Bankers Association is warning congressional leaders that a nationwide moratorium on foreclosures would "further depress home prices and disrupt an already fragile economy."