Compliance & Regulation

The Federal Housing Administration’s support for the condominium market continues to fall, but agency officials are hoping to reverse that trend.

Based on the comments appearing on our blogs and message boards, loan officers and mortgage brokers are overwhelmingly Republican. They don’t like too much regulation and given what’s transpired because of Dodd-Frank (regarding loan officer compensation) they’re fighting an uphill battle concerning how much money they can earn.

Here's a fact you may not be aware of: properties governed by homeowner associations are the most rapidly growing form of housing in the U.S. today. Nearly 80% of new home construction is connected with an HOA or community association, according to the Community Associations Institute, the trade association representing HOAs.

A federal official Tuesday afternoon told a group of New York-based third-party origination professionals angered by new proposed compensation and pricing restrictions that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau would listen to their concerns and could still possibly change the proposals in line with them.

Short sales outnumbered REO sales in 12 states in January, RealtyTrac said, indicating that lender-servicers have agreed to sell the home for less than what’s owed on the mortgage, therefore preventing a borrower from going through the foreclosure process which costs more than executing a short sale.

Despite strong bipartisan support, a bill that would provide banks greater assurance of confidentiality when they provide information to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau remains mired in the Senate. Exactly why is hard to unravel, but most industry representatives point to Sen. Bob Corker as the chief roadblock.

Out of all of the SARs filed from depository institutions in 2011, possible mortgage fraud was reported on 92,028 files, compared to only 70,472 the prior year.

Mitt Romney has participated in 23 debates and sat for scores of interviews since launching his campaign for president, but nearly a year later, he's still maddeningly vague about his views on financial policy.

Allonhill, a mortgage due diligence provider that two weeks ago lost a consulting contract with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, has given layoff notices to dozens of employees, according to industry consultants who were briefed on the matter.

At some point the White House might finally understand that the regulatory pendulum has swung much too far in the other direction.