Compliance & Regulation

The Federal Housing Administration has made a last-minute attempt to soften new underwriting guidelines that penalized borrowers with ongoing credit disputes.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a bulletin Monday clarifying on an interim basis how compensation rules apply to qualified profit sharing, 401(k) and employee stock ownership plans.

Recently I attended the 2012 NMLS Annual Conference in Scottsdale, Ariz., and learned that there are still many challenges out in the licensing corner of mortgage lending. It was a great opportunity to meet with state and federal regulators, compliance professionals, licensing specialists, lawyers, and experts in the industry.

The House Financial Services Committee has approved a bill to enhance the FHA's authority to police bad lenders after rejecting an amendment that would have reduced the agency's loan guarantees.

The Treasury Department is fighting back against critics of principal reduction who claim second lien holders will unfairly benefit from a reduction in the loan balances of underwater Fannie Mae/ Freddie Mac loans.

Recent Federal Housing Finance Agency efforts to interest buyers in the foreclosure-to-rent market may be off to a good start with an unlikely type of investor even though it still is everyone's guess whether this management strategy will effectively ease off inventory pressures and speed up the recovery.

Is there really much of a professional difference between loan officers who work for a bank versus a nonbank? I'm not picking sides, but recent comments to this column suggest that nonbank LOs feel they are better equipped to serve the consumer - and not necessarily because they have passed the state test.

At Interthinx we get to be both soothsayer and Monday morning quarterback understanding from review why portfolios fell during the bust, and applying that learning to the future. Thus, my advice to you is to make sure that best practices in your organization flow from front to back and that all areas have the necessary intelligence tools to adequately ensure quality.

At Interthinx we get to be both soothsayer and Monday morning quarterback understanding from review why portfolios fell during the bust, and applying that learning to the future. Thus, my advice to you is to make sure that best practices in your organization flow from front to back and that all areas have the necessary intelligence tools to adequately ensure quality.

Months after the Justice Department announced its biggest fair lending settlement in history, the banking industry continues to brace itself for the fallout from a renewed government focus on fairness.