Servicing

The ability to repay rule states that a lender "shall not make a mortgage loan unless the creditor makes a reasonable and good faith determination at or before consummation that the consumer will have a reasonable ability to repay the loan according to its terms."

Mortgage servicing has long been a scale business, but rising compliance costs are now threatening the survival of smaller operations that lack efficient systems or staff expertise, industry experts say.

The loans have better-than-average credit and home equity metrics, according to Standard & Poor's. The deal lacks fraud-related representations and warranties, but all loans are performing, DBRS finds.

It's clear regulation has replaced credit risk as the industry's top worry. Here are some suggestions for dealing with the new environment from attendees at this week's MBA servicing conference.

One of the first court decisions related to new Dodd-Frank servicing regulations finds allegedly unfair loss mitigation and dual track foreclosure proceedings can be privately enforced, but to a limited extent.

Two Florida men have been sentenced to serve seven years in federal prison for swindling more than $4 million from borrowers who were behind on their mortgages.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's crackdown on mortgage servicers' operations will increase the pressure on lenders to improve their processes, paperwork and communications with borrowers. National Mortgage News journalists discuss how both banks and nonbank servicers can get ahead of the new regulatory scrutiny.

After eight straight profitable quarters and record annual income, Fannie Mae's dividend payments to the U.S. Treasury now exceed the bailout funds it's received since 2008.

Having all the information about a borrower’s loan status readily available and being able to prove a servicer made an effort to reach out to a distressed homeowner are critical.

Ocwen Financial raised less than underwriters expected by selling bonds tied to fees from managing government-backed loans as the mortgage servicer’s shares fell to the lowest since December 2012.