Compliance & Regulation

Single point of contact requirements for servicers aren’t just another compliance burden, they’re an opportunity for improved margins and lower loss severity, according to Craig Focardi, a senior research director at consulting firm TowerGroup.

New issue, private-label MBS backed by either recent vintage or seasoned loans funded since the downturn have generally had some type of mechanism to enforce and/or clarify parameters for repurchases, a Moody's Investors Service analyst told National Mortgage News.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency wants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to be more responsive to troubled homeowners seeking a short sale solution or who receive a bid from an interested buyer.

If GOP hopeful Mitt Romney has his way HUD will be killed and presumably so will the FHA program. It's election season and the candidate - hoping to appeal to conservatives - wants to stick a knife in HUD/FHA because, well, it's a cabinet level agency and cutting big government is a red meat move.

In order to for any long-term economic recovery for the country, Peter Kassabov, chairman and CEO of Digital Risk, said it is important for companies to invest in and train their employees in order to remain in compliance with federal regulations.

As vacant properties rise across the country, code compliance is an ongoing challenge within the housing industry that servicers, property preservation companies and Realtors have to battle on a daily basis.

As Richard K. Davis sees it, the biggest remaining regulatory costs might be bottles of Tylenol for the compliance team. Though the Volcker Rule and other Dodd-Frank Act regulations are still being finalized, the outstanding risks will be manageable if not clerical, the chairman and chief executive of U.S. Bancorp (USB) said.

A Federal Reserve rule has sown widespread confusion about the way lenders pay housing appraisers, creating turmoil in an industry already burdened by expensive middlemen, falling home prices and diminished ranks.

Most financial institutions would probably say that the National Labor Relations Board is the least of their worries. That may be changing.

Lenders often pressure title agents to reduce their fees when other items disclosed on the HUD 'Good Faith Estimate' form exceed the allowed tolerances, according to new research conducted by the American Land Title Association.