Compliance & Regulation

Freddie Mac announced last week that it will guarantee its second series of SB Certificates, which are backed by multifamily small-balance loans underwritten by Freddie Mac and issued by a third-party trust.

BlackRock Inc. is the latest company planning to finance investors who buy single-family homes, capitalizing on soaring rental demand as the homeownership rate sits at a five-decade low.

Treasuries are proving to be investors' main destination in a global scramble for safety, pushing 10-year yields below 2% for the first time in four months.

Heightened compliance concerns are forcing some lenders to consider offering themselves for acquisition, but this strategy can only be successful with a highly calculated and deliberate approach.

A Virginia woman has pleaded guilty to leading a mortgage-fraud ring that victimized hundreds of Hispanic residents in the northern part of the state and caused millions of dollars in losses for lenders.

Nothing touches off an argument more than questions about whether the CFPB will allow any marketing services agreements to continue. Some mortgage lenders say no and are winding down their agreements, others insist regulators can be satisfied, and still others are just plain confused.

There's nothing like a natural disaster to make people realize how important insurance is to the banking industry.

Banks have ramped up foreclosure activity in the past five months, with default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions at their highest levels in two years. It's a positive sign that banks are finally clearing out all the distressed loans still lingering from the housing crisis. Meanwhile, banks remain cautious about new lending, partly because of regulatory actions.

The only thing more ominous than a CFPB investigation is when the FDIC and OCC join in on the action.

Fannie Mae has closed a credit risk-sharing transaction, with an international reinsurance company participating in this type of deal for the first time.