Compliance & Regulation

There’s nothing quite like disaster to remind us of the importance of effective leadership. As the recent sea disaster off the coast of Italy illustrates, when the captain fails at risk management, tragedy can occur.

With financial regulatory policy a major issue in an election year, topics like a pending mortgage settlement and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau could get strong billing in Tuesday's State of Union.

The Federal Trade Commission and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau have entered into a memorandum of understanding to coordinate investigations and law enforcement actions while avoiding duplication.

When President Obama installed Richard Cordray as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, industry observers declared that a lawsuit was imminent.

Producing quality loan documents and maintaining the integrity of borrower data within them will be critical for both lenders and servicers as part of meeting new requirements.

A recent Government Accountability Office report on appraisal oversight adds to evidence valuation problems could be persisting, according the National Association of Home Builders. The report suggests that the Appraisal Subcommittee charged with monitoring valuations has not fully been able to yet in line with its expanded role under Dodd-Frank.

The state attorney general leading settlement talks with the country's top mortgage servicers batted down speculation Monday that a deal had been reached.

Answering complaints that appraisers are using uncomparable 'comparables' on which to base their valuations, the Appraisal Institute has published new guidance to help valuation professionals know when -- and how -- to use distressed sales in appraising real estate.

As owner of an appraisal company, I hear it all the time. "These conservative appraisers are killing my deals." I’m going to tell you a secret. No appraiser wants to kill transactions. In fact, for appraisers, the only thing worse than providing values that don’t support transaction amounts is losing their licenses or getting blacklisted by a lender.

Five years back who would have ever thought that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would be an issue in a GOP primary? To the uneducated and ignorant the housing crisis was caused by the two GSEs. To anyone who has been in this business for more than say, seven years, they know the housing implosion had multiple fathers, the GSEs being on a long list, many rungs below Wall Street.