Compliance & Regulation

Bank of America Corp. is limiting the number of refinance applications it accepts over the phone, telling borrowers who do not have an existing relationship with the bank that they may have to wait 60 to 90 days before their loan application can be processed, a B of A spokesman said Wednesday.

An industry law firm said Wednesday it has formed its own financial fraud enforcement task force following the recent introduction of the Obama Administration's Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities Working Group.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York said Wednesday that it has sold assets with a current face value of $6.2 billion from its Maiden Lane II LLC portfolio through a competitive process to Goldman Sachs & Co.

Here’s a current-day dilemma to ponder: a listing agent lands a new bank-owned listing. Before marketing, the property needs an occupancy check, a clean-out, some minor repairs, and a few other maintenance items. Agent hurries to get the sign in the yard. A week or two passes before the bank approves expenses and determines list price based on BPO and appraisal.

A House Financial Services panel on Tuesday approved a bill requiring the Federal Housing Administration to submit a plan to Congress on how it will avoid a bailout of its financially strapped mortgage insurance fund.

The United Kingdom's Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, said regulators there are considering regulating loan-to-value ratios in mortgage lending.

Moments before he was scheduled to make a statement on the mortgage servicing settlement Tuesday night, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman postponed the conference call indefinitely.

The classic 1895 science fiction novel The Time Machine by H.G. Wells allowed travel to the past and future. According to the most recent Case-Shiller study, home prices have now 'traveled' back to 2003 levels. This represents a 3.7% drop in overall prices since November 2011.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network finalized regulations today by which non-bank residential mortgage lenders and originators will have to follow the same rules as other financial institutions.

Mortgage servicers continue to modify 25,000 loans a month under the government's HAMP program, but that pace could pick up later this summer as new changes to the effort kick in.