Compliance

Bank of America has agreed to pay $17 billion to settle federal investigators' allegations that it sold shoddy mortgage-backed securities ahead of the financial crisis.

Countrywide Financial Corp. co-founder Angelo Mozilo hasn't escaped the wrath of prosecutors for his company's role in inflating the housing bubble that preceded the financial crisis.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is preparing to serve Ocwen Financial Corp. with its second subpoena in as many months, adding to the already mounting regulatory pressure facing the country's largest nonbank servicer.

FirstMerit Bank in Akron, Ohio, has partnered with the Skillman Foundation to help residents in downtown Detroit purchase homes.

The hot-button topic of what Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should charge for loan guarantees is emerging as a key issue in reviving a private-label securitization market.

Equity sharing, a fledgling concept that never managed to gain traction as a loss mitigation strategy during the housing crisis, is being reincarnated as an alternative to home equity loans and other second-lien mortgage products.

All employees, including executives, need to be focused on compliance and customer complaints. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is specifically concerned when a company does not appropriately monitor third-party vendors.

Second-quarter data show housing activity has lost momentum and may experience only minor improvements in the second half of the year, according to a Fannie Mae's Economic & Strategic Research Group.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency banned banks and mortgage servicers from accepting commissions on force-placed insurance policies issued by affiliated companies. At least one mortgage servicer, Ocwen Financial, has found a way around the ban.

If consumers can't afford to pay the premium and the policy gets cancelled, servicers can acquire force-placed policies.

Weather-wise, we're having a relatively placid season. But legal and regulatory developments are a different story when it comes to lender-placed insurance.

There was a time years ago when second liens were the toughest legacy home loan asset to find a buyer for in the secondary market.

Bill Ackman's Pershing Square Capital Management LP sued the U.S. government claiming revised terms of the 2008 bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac cheat investors of the profit from the mortgage-financing entities.

While Fannie Mae should have a smooth transition to a new system, Freddie Mac might find the path more treacherous.

A temporary waiver allowing victims of Hurricane Sandy to finance foundation repairs and elevate their homes with 203(k) mortgages should be made permanent to help lessen the burden of flood insurance requirements, say real estate and flood hazard groups.

PHH is appealing one of the largest judgments ever awarded in a mortgage case. The dispute encapsulates many of the problems that have plagued the servicing industry in recent years.

Freedom Mortgage in Mount Laurel, N.J., has agreed to pay $104,000 to settle claims that it discriminated against loan applicants with disabilities.

The ratings agency plans to assess deals based on representations and warranties as well as an analysis of an independent third-party review of data quality and an originator assessment.

Wall Street is running into resistance unloading commercial-mortgage backed securities. After overlooking deteriorating underwriting standards for months, investors are becoming more selective as geopolitical turmoil sparks a flight from risky assets.

Though there is still a year for mortgage lenders to get in compliance with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's document changes, the perils of missing that deadline are considerable.