Compliance & Regulation

The Federal Housing Finance Agency banned banks and mortgage servicers from accepting commissions on force-placed insurance policies issued by affiliated companies. At least one mortgage servicer, Ocwen Financial, has found a way around the ban.

If consumers can't afford to pay the premium and the policy gets cancelled, servicers can acquire force-placed policies.

Weather-wise, we're having a relatively placid season. But legal and regulatory developments are a different story when it comes to lender-placed insurance.

There was a time years ago when second liens were the toughest legacy home loan asset to find a buyer for in the secondary market.

Bill Ackman's Pershing Square Capital Management LP sued the U.S. government claiming revised terms of the 2008 bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac cheat investors of the profit from the mortgage-financing entities.

While Fannie Mae should have a smooth transition to a new system, Freddie Mac might find the path more treacherous.

A temporary waiver allowing victims of Hurricane Sandy to finance foundation repairs and elevate their homes with 203(k) mortgages should be made permanent to help lessen the burden of flood insurance requirements, say real estate and flood hazard groups.

PHH is appealing one of the largest judgments ever awarded in a mortgage case. The dispute encapsulates many of the problems that have plagued the servicing industry in recent years.

Freedom Mortgage in Mount Laurel, N.J., has agreed to pay $104,000 to settle claims that it discriminated against loan applicants with disabilities.

Several institutions said their underwriters already exclude paid and unpaid medical debt from their calculation, raising questions about what kind of impact the new model will have on lenders.