Servicing

Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. officials are concerned that banks will continue to suffer in a slow growth economy, but have an even greater fear: that a recession could spur more bank failures.

Mortgage bankers will fund just $900 billion in new loans next year, the industry’s lowest volume since 1997, according to a new forecast from the Mortgage Bankers Association.

MURRIETA, CALIF. — When Lesliane Bouchard took out a mortgage in 2008 to buy a home in Riverside County, she specifically requested a Federal Housing Administration loan. The 8th-grade English teacher and former foster parent thought a government-insured loan would offer the most protection in a falling housing market.

The Government National Mortgage Association is making it easier for MBS issuers to pledge their servicing rights to obtain financing from warehouse lenders.

The Obama Administration expects to roll out a plan to lower barriers to refinancing in "the next couple of weeks," HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan told mortgage bankers at their annual convention in Chicago.

A seemingly optimistic survey showing 68% of all respondents, or seven out of 10 homeowners and six out of 10 renters, agree it is a good or very good time to buy a house does not mean much for the housing market recovery—at least for the present.

Reverse Mortgage Solutions believes mortgage brokers may be the big winners from Bank of America and Wells Fargo exiting the reverse mortgage lending arena.

Housing is "extremely important to the President," a key White House advisor told the Mortgage Bankers Annual convention in Chicago.

Equifax is teaming up with Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. to offer insurance coverage for lenders that have been stung by loan repurchase requests where hidden debts were involved.

Since being seized by the government during the financial crisis, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac haven't been businesses so much as government-owned mortgage utilities. That status was supposed to be temporary, but three years later, lawmakers have shown little appetite for changing it.