Compliance

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.

Amerisave Mortgage Corp. and its owner have been ordered to pay more than $20 million for allegedly overcharging borrowers and trapping them in higher interest rates than those advertised.

Even though refinance loans account for the majority of mortgage applications, the refi boom has long been over, and depressed origination volume will keep it that way for some time.

Ocwen Financial Corp., the largest nonbank mortgage servicer, said investors shouldn't rely on its financial statements for 2013 and the first quarter of this year as the firm’s auditor reviews accounting controls.

Hawaii plans to sell $150 million in taxable bonds in November to fund a program to provide low-interest loans targeting residents with poor credit or low income who want to install energy savings devices like solar panels on their homes.

Fitch Ratings may decline to rate or limit the maximum rating on re-performing securitizations if their representations and warranties, rep providers, documentation, due diligence reviews and structures aren't up to snuff.

The overall message – that mini-correspondents were intended as transitions, not permanent business models – means that the loan channel would be examined for consistency with the intended purpose.

MGIC Investment Corp. reported its insurance subsidiaries wrote $3.6 billion in new primary mortgage insurance in July, up 12.5% from June, continuing its second-quarter trend.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are relying more and more on their income from loan guarantee fees just at a time when their regulator is considering a proposal to reduce those fees.

Morgan Stanley is returning to the jumbo residential mortgage-backed securities market for the first-time since the housing crisis. The originator is well-known, but the loans are unusual and the geographic concentration is high.

Fair Isaac's new credit scoring model includes enhancements to evaluate borrowers with limited credit histories and quantify the risk associated with different types of debt.