Compliance & Regulation

The Federal Housing Finance Agency thinks California Attorney General Jerry Brown is all wet when it comes to the Property Assessed Clean Energy program and how government assisted energy upgrades made by consumers should be treated in the pecking order of lien priority.

Mortgage attorneys, consultants, and trade group officials are at odds over the implementation date of restrictions on loan officer/broker compensation-and prepayment penalties-promulgated in the pending Dodd-Frank regulatory reform bill.

The Senate late Thursday afternoon passed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform bill by a 60-39 vote, clearing the way for the president to sign the historic measure next week.

Borrowers giving up their homes through short sales face pressure to pay fees under the table; potential ripple effects of a Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac name change.

California Attorney General Jerry Brown is suing mortgage titans Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as well as their regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, for effectively killing programs that allow the state's localities to issue bonds to finance energy-efficient upgrades made by homeowners.

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said his company was one of "many" broker/dealers that received a subpoena from the Federal Housing Finance Agency which recently launched an inquiry into private label securities purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. will begin taking final bids on the $23 billion AmTrust Bank residential servicing portfolio by the end of July with a winner picked shortly thereafter, investment banking sources said Wednesday.

Federal banking regulators are pledging to go easy on lenders in the Gulf Coast States that work with and assist their customers—including mortgagors—that have been adversely impacted by the British Petroleum oil spill disaster.

Federal Reserve officials expect residential sales will "remain weak" now that the homebuyer tax credit has expired, according to just released minutes of the June 22-23 Federal Open Market Committee meeting.

One area of consensus in Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac reform that is emerging in at least one of the two main political camps eyeing the issue could be an entity or entities that provide an explicit guarantee and insurance wrap on mortgage-backed securities.