Origination

Housing starts slumped in February by the most in four years as bad winter weather in parts of the U.S. prevented builders from initiating new projects.

Lending groups are demanding the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau take down its mortgage rate calculator, arguing it is providing misleading information to consumers.

But derivatives that magnified their performance woes were the bigger culprit, according to a new book by investor Howard Hill, who created models for collateralized mortgage obligations before the meltdown.

Lloyd's of London and Bankers Insurance Service will now offer errors and omissions insurance for Litigation Guard, an online system which performs compliance checks for non-QM loans.

The Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corp.'s earnings fell in the fourth quarter to $8.9 million, down from $13.4 million during the same period in 2013.

Confidence among homebuilders unexpectedly fell in March to an eight-month low as prospective buyers were in little rush to shop for properties ahead of the busier spring selling season.

A recent Supreme Court decision means that one exemption to the Fair Labor Standards Act does not apply to mortgage salespeople, but their employers might still be able to take advantage of other exemptions.

Bipartisan legislation introduced in the Senate this week would make it easier for consumers to secure financing to purchase manufactured housing.

Ed DeMarco, the former chief regulator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, warned that efforts under the Obama Administration to expand access to credit could risk repeating mistakes that led up to the crisis.

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Indianapolis is again admitting mortgage-investment firms as members, even as the overseer of the government-chartered system of 12 regional lenders considers barring such companies.