Compliance & Regulation

The June 25 launch, which will provide lenders with much more information about a borrower's credit history, will mark the first widespread use of trended data in the mortgage industry.

The government-sponsored enterprises' risk-sharing deals are being hailed as an innovative approach for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to offload credit exposure to private markets. But their growing popularity is raising questions about how these transactions should be reported in financial statements.

Despite not taking effect until well over a year from now, changes to the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act are already becoming a source of concern for lenders, QuestSoft found in its annual compliance survey.

Redwood Trust is broadening what kinds of prime jumbo mortgages it will accept and its appetite for non-qualified mortgages.

Credit access and homeownership for low- to moderate-income families are under siege by the DOJ's overuse of the False Claims Act, as lenders worried about punitive damages discontinue Federal Housing Administration loan programs.

After the Home Affordable Modification Program ends, servicers will employ myriad proprietary workout options to meet ongoing compliance requirements. But will more discretion in loss mitigation practices create consumer and investor confusion?

The Consumer Mortgage Coalition is arguing that the bill has serious flaws by allowing private insurers to undercut pricing on federal flood insurance policies by offering high deductibles and exclusions to homeowners with mortgages guaranteed by the government-sponsored enterprises.

The Making Home Affordable program has been extended and expanded so many times that it's gotten hard to imagine life without it. But its two primary initiatives have served their purpose and the days may be numbered for HAMP and HARP.

Going forward, Fannie Mae will be relying more on loan guarantee fee income from its single-family and multifamily businesses.

Borrowers who have defaulted in the past are generally considered to be a bigger risk than those who have never missed a payment. Yet the early performance of bonds backed by rehabbed residential mortgages is pretty strong.