Compliance & Regulation

A House Financial Services subcommittee has approved a bill that would establish a foundation for a new private-label securitization market for mortgages.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said it is now adamantly opposed to any radical change in servicing compensation and has launched a "call to action" campaign, urging its members to heavily lobby the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

The Comptroller of the Currency is advising banks to review their foreclosure policies and procedures, urging them to address the risks associated with taking possession of homes, acquiring the properties and becoming the actual owner.

Former FHA commissioner David Stevens, who now heads the Mortgage Bankers Association, says hiking GSE guarantee fees to fund an extension of the payroll tax cut is "bad policy," calling such a maneuver a "slippery slope."

The Federal Housing Finance Agency has again delayed implementation of the Uniform Mortgage Data Program, an initiative to update and streamline the loan and appraisal data collected by the government-sponsored enterprises.

Federal Home Loan Bank of New York president Alfred DelliBovi is joining a private commission whose mandate is to review the proper role of the federal government in the housing sector.

The independent consultants hired by bank servicers to review and assess the claims of millions of borrowers who may have been harmed in the foreclosure process will not be able to contact these borrowers directly or even talk with housing counselors, according to testimony at a Senate Banking subcommittee on Tuesday.

Some mortgage industry members are applauding Congressional efforts to raise the guarantee fees that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac charge lenders, saying the increases could help bring private investors back into the mortgage market.

When the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act was enacted into law in 2003, it was supposed to prevent military personnel from losing their homes while they were protecting our country. But years later there continues to be evidence companies need to better track their compliance with it.

FHFA Inspector General Steve Linick said he has opened "numerous" criminal and civil investigations of lenders, servicers, individuals and other firms that have victimized Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.