Banking

Mortgage lenders took on more risk in the second quarter as the share of loans to real estate investors and condominium owners increased, according to CoreLogic.

Stephen Sessler, the director of mortgage banking at the $4 billion-asset Camden National Bank, provides other lenders a peek at the benefits and pitfalls of digital mortgages.

Putting faith in its team of experts analyzing every loan application, the Arkansas bank is shrugging off warnings of a real estate downturn.

Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., plans to reintroduce legislation requiring the IRS to fast-track income verification, which proponents say could reduce the financial industry's dependence on credit bureaus.

The proposal is aimed at a simpler capital regime particularly for community banks, but some industry representatives and regulators themselves questioned whether the plan went far enough.

Ginnie Mae is giving expanded loan buyout authority to certain issuers in order to help them remove loans affected by Hurricanes Irma and Harvey from securitized mortgage pools.

Equifax observed an increasingly well-worn ritual of scandal-ridden firms by jettisoning CEO Richard Smith: apologize, promise to do better in the future, and sacrifice your top executive in the hopes it will ward off action by Congress and regulators.

Inevitably, Equifax’s CEO Richard Smith has left his post. For the credit bureau's sake, let's hope it has a long-term plan that's better than promoting from within.

In a business populated by extroverts, Diana Reid views herself as an introvert. The head of PNC Real Estate at PNC Financial Services Group says it's an attribute that she's made an asset as she looks to build consensus and drive business growth.

The share of lenders easing credit for government-sponsored enterprise-eligible loans is at a high not seen since Fannie Mae started a survey to track it.