Origination

Standard & Poor’s agreed to a one-year suspension from rating certain commercial mortgage bonds and $80 million in fines to settle charges with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the New York and Massachusetts Attorneys Generals offices.

Justin Wheeler, who was named CEO last week of Berkadia Commercial, the commercial-mortgage business owned by Berkshire Hathaway and Leucadia National, said global investors are increasingly betting on U.S. property.

Mortgage application volume for the period ending Jan. 16 reached its highest level since June 2013, led by a 22% increase in refinance applications, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recently issued a report showing that nearly half of all mortgage borrowers did not comparison shop. Will additional disclosure help if consumers don't use it?

New residential construction in the U.S. rose more than forecast in December, capping the best year since 2007 and signaling the industry will probably keep expanding this year.

Mortgage brokers and nonbank lenders who operate outside the reach of federal bank regulators are thriving in Canada after the country introduced a half-dozen mortgage rules since 2008 to cool its soaring home prices.

The federal government's recent decisions to lower annual premiums for new borrowers and reduce down payment requirements suggest it has little interest in making room for private capital in the mortgage market.

In the past, the most prominent tax breaks have generally been treated as equals — the mortgage deduction is pretty much the same as, say, the capital gains preference or the charitable contributions write-off. But they're not equal.

Movement Mortgage, with more than 1,600 employees, will build a new national headquarters at the Bailes Ridge Business Park in Indian Land, S.C.

Same-sex married couples who own their homes can now change the way their property is deeded, holding it in a way that wasn't available to them before the same-sex marriage became legal in Florida this month.