Compliance & Regulation

The common themes of control, consistency and transparency targeted by the various new regulations are creating an increased need for more loan channel-agnostic mortgage operations and systems, according to one expert.

It may be a buyer's market for residential servicing rights but that isn't stopping mortgage banking firms from unloading their legacy housing receivables in an attempt to clean up their balance sheets.

More banks can be expected to finally begin dumping their non-performing loans this year, affording investors their first real chance at acquiring commercial real estate assets at bargain prices, according to a new report.

It may be the best of times to be a commercial, multifamily banker and the worst of times to be a servicer of securitized multifamily loans.

As servicing fraud schemes rise in which scammers are taking advantage of distressed borrowers, it is important for lenders to step up their efforts in detecting and preventing these false scams from taking place.

Sen. Chuck Grassley took the Justice Department to task Wednesday for its fair lending settlement with Countrywide Financial Corp., saying it will have minimal economic impact for affected borrowers.

Several liberal House members pressed President Obama on Wednesday to fire the acting head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Edward DeMarco, if he continues to oppose writing down underwater mortgages.

In a recent ruling, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals determined that mortgage servicers have the right to protect and maintain their collateral interest in defaulted and foreclosed properties prior to the property going to sale—validating the work field service companies perform.

The U.S. Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network bureau this week released its latest quarterly figures, and a year-to-year increase in them suggests mortgage loan fraud-related suspicious activity is still on the rise. But they also offer some hope the numbers could recede if the high loan volumes from the peak of the housing boom are ever fully vetted.

Investors are lining up to get their hands on the thousands of government-held foreclosed homes, either to fix up the houses for resale or to hold the properties as rentals. But in a sort of if-you-can't-beat-them-join-them scenario, some builders are putting up brand-new houses as rentals.