Compliance & Regulation

The Securities and Exchange Commission is preparing to serve Ocwen Financial Corp. with its second subpoena in as many months, adding to the already mounting regulatory pressure facing the country's largest nonbank servicer.

FirstMerit Bank in Akron, Ohio, has partnered with the Skillman Foundation to help residents in downtown Detroit purchase homes.

The 14-term congressman was a dominating force as House Banking Committee chairman. But the savings and loan deregulation bearing his name tarnished his legislative record, and ethics allegations created a cloud of suspicion that led to his ouster.

The mortgage interest tax deduction is supposed to encourage homeownership among low- and middle-income Americans. But it primarily benefits higher-income taxpayers, according to a new study from the Mercatus Center at George Mason University.

The hot-button topic of what Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should charge for loan guarantees is emerging as a key issue in reviving a private-label securitization market.

Equity sharing, a fledgling concept that never managed to gain traction as a loss mitigation strategy during the housing crisis, is being reincarnated as an alternative to home equity loans and other second-lien mortgage products.

HMDA data provides information regarding home mortgage lending activity, and the proposed CFPB rule appears to significantly expand data reporting requirements for mortgage industry participants.

All employees, including executives, need to be focused on compliance and customer complaints. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is specifically concerned when a company does not appropriately monitor third-party vendors.

Second-quarter data show housing activity has lost momentum and may experience only minor improvements in the second half of the year, according to a Fannie Mae's Economic & Strategic Research Group.

One thing lenders often overlook is the manner in which potentially isolated compliance problems can in retrospect be weaved into an elaborate and intentional conspiracy.