Compliance & Regulation

Even if you have not experienced this for yourself, nearly everyone has heard horror stories from a blind date. They have become a cultural archetype in every way. You go in expecting young, athletic, charming and too often, find yourself grappling with the liberal application of those words. Growing up in the mortgage industry over the last 20 years, I can attest that a few parallels exist here. What you thought was a great deal for the bank, that solid customer with the high FICO score, great employment, and low debt ratios turns out to be a house of cards built on shifting sands, and the "perfect match" ends in default and risk.

THE NUMBER OF NEWLY DELINQUENT HOME LOANS HAS RISEN FOR TWO STRAIGHT QUARTERS in what could foreshadow another surge in unemployment-related foreclosures.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will require homeowners with "green energy" loans from municipalities to pay them off when refinancing their mortgages — unless the borrowers don't have enough equity, in which case the green liens can stay.

Large banks are agreeing to give local governments and nonprofit groups the ability to buy foreclosed homes before they are sold to private investors, according to a report in the Associated Press.

Perhaps tipping its hand on how the fair-value fight is going, a key trade group is shifting the industry's line of attack.

As the Federal Reserve Board and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency take over supervision of thrifts and their holding companies, S&Ls have grown increasingly scared about a possible crackdown on their business.

Everyone knows that short sales have gone through the roof, tripling over the last couple of years and providing more grist to the unlikely alliances of lenders and Realtors that have sprung up to handle them.

Allied Home Mortgage Capital Corp., Houston, which recently settled with HUD concerning alleged branch violations, has appointed two state managers to act as compliance auditors for the company.

Accountants at depositories may have to change the way they count loans and securities — including mortgages — that might go bad.

The Federal Housing Administration needs to provide guidance to servicers to address an increasing number of seniors who are defaulting on their federally insured reverse mortgages, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Office of Inspector General.