Compliance & Regulation

House and Senate appropriators approved more funds for a foreclosure mitigation program and included another short-term extension of the National Flood Insurance Program in a spending bill expected to pass this week.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac late Tuesday afternoon released a somewhat detailed bulletin on the underwriting guidelines for refinancing underwater borrowers with GSE loans, segmenting what's allowable based on the LTV and if the product is being offered by the current servicer.

Two Michigan registers of deeds have filed a class action lawsuit against Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems for allegedly not paying proper county and state transfer taxes.

Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown late Monday became the first Senate Republican to endorse the nomination of Richard Cordray to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Despite falling house prices and rising claims, the Federal Housing Administration's mortgage insurance fund clung to a slim capital ratio of 0.24% on its book-of-business for the year ending Sept. 30, compared to 0.5% a year ago, according to independent actuarial reports released Tuesday morning.

House and Senate conferees have agreed to restore the $729,750 maximum loan limit for Federal Housing Administration-backed mortgages for two years – but left the GSE cap unchanged.

The acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency told a Senate panel this morning that the agency is moving ahead with "private" risk sharing opportunities between Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac and firms outside of the government's control.

Mortgage servicers seem to be caught between a rock and hard place when it comes to foreclosures: their legal practices are being scrutinized by state attorneys general for sloppy paperwork while the GSEs pile on fees for delays in loss mitigation work.

The Justice Department began sending letters Monday to servicemembers who are entitled to $20 million in damages from Bank of America Corp. for alleged violations of the Servicemember Civil Relief Act.

Military personnel whose homes were improperly foreclosed upon will each receive at least $116,875 from BAC Home Loans Servicing, a subsidiary of Bank of America, for the bank's alleged violation of the Servicemember Civil Relief Act.