Compliance & Regulation

Julian Castro, secretary of housing and urban development, said 2015 will be a year of "housing opportunity" as the economy continues its rebound.

Standard & Poor's is close to an agreement to pay $1.4 billion to settle claims by the Justice Department and states attorneys general that it inflated subprime mortgage-bond ratings before the financial crisis, according to two people with knowledge of the talks.

Standard & Poor’s agreed to a one-year suspension from rating certain commercial mortgage bonds and $80 million in fines to settle charges with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the New York and Massachusetts Attorneys Generals offices.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recently issued a report showing that nearly half of all mortgage borrowers did not comparison shop. Will additional disclosure help if consumers don't use it?

Mortgage brokers and nonbank lenders who operate outside the reach of federal bank regulators are thriving in Canada after the country introduced a half-dozen mortgage rules since 2008 to cool its soaring home prices.

The federal government's recent decisions to lower annual premiums for new borrowers and reduce down payment requirements suggest it has little interest in making room for private capital in the mortgage market.

In the past, the most prominent tax breaks have generally been treated as equals — the mortgage deduction is pretty much the same as, say, the capital gains preference or the charitable contributions write-off. But they're not equal.

Same-sex married couples who own their homes can now change the way their property is deeded, holding it in a way that wasn't available to them before the same-sex marriage became legal in Florida this month.

No matter if you are a large mortgage banker or a small mortgage broker, your employees in California are covered under this law that goes into effect on July 1.

Standard & Poor's will be suspended for a year from rating bonds in one of its most lucrative businesses in a $60 million settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.