Compliance & Regulation

An independent actuarial report showed the Federal Housing Administration's mortgage insurance fund's capital ratio hit 0.41% this year, which is below the earlier estimate of 1.2%.

Plaintiffs advocating for spousal rights in existing Home Equity Conversion Mortgages are renewing their motion for class certification, citing circumstances surrounding two instances of foreclosures under interim government policy.

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear two Bank of America Corp. appeals that seek to give lenders more leverage over homeowners who file for bankruptcy protection.

A fine levied against a relatively small lender shows that capitulating to the demands of staff on matters of lawful loan officer compensation is not a risk worth taking.

With an eye on eliminating mortgage buybacks and adhering to increasing regulatory compliance obligations, mortgage lenders are redoubling their sales training efforts for both rookie and veteran loan officers.

A report due next week on the Federal Housing Administration's financial health is expected to show that the agency's reserve fund has significantly improved over the past year.

Mel Watt, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, has set off a political tempest.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau slapped Franklin Loan Corp. with a $730,000 fine on Thursday for allegedly incentivizing loan officers to guide customers into mortgages with higher interest rates.

Fannie Mae has entered into deals with JPMorgan Chase and other companies that transfer some of the credit-loss risk on mortgage-backed securities to investors. Not only do these deals reduce the danger that taxpayers could be forced to cover the GSEs losses, they may help make mortgages more affordable.

Republicans are unlikely to push the ball forward on reform of the federal housing agencies, but Congress has a number of other opportunities to make changes that will encourage mortgage lending.