Risk management

Sage Bank in Lowell, Mass., has agreed to pay about $1.2 million to settle Justice Department allegations of discrimination against minorities in mortgage lending.

A plan by the government-sponsored enterprises to begin collecting the new Closing Disclosure data is designed to promote Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's loan quality goals. But the initiative may also prompt broader use of e-signatures and paperless processing.

The percentage of mortgage applications with defects declined in October, according to First American Financial Corp.

Freddie Mac is prepping its next risk-sharing deal, according to presales from Fitch Ratings and Kroll Bond Ratings.

Commercial mortgage underwriting standards have already loosened dramatically this year, but it seems that some borrowers are still trying to get away with a little more.

Higher mortgage rates and other macroeconomic challenges may dampen lending under the Federal Housing Administration's single-family program, but they will produce a net benefit to the insurance fund. Here's why.

The New York Department of Financial Services has ordered NewDay Financial to surrender its New York State license, as the fallout continues from its exam-cheating scandal.

Fannie Mae has transferred the credit risk on a $12 billion pool of mortgages to reinsurers.

In one instance, a single complaint in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's database was counted as 35 different ones while in another, a complaint against a payday lender was filed against an unrelated bank. Current and former officials say that's par for the course, leading to inflated complaint numbers and inaccurate data.

Lenders are doing a better job keeping consumers informed about the loan process, according to the latest J.D. Power mortgage survey. But the actual speed of loan closings is also a key factor to borrowers' overall satisfaction.