Compliance

The government-sponsored enterprises just went a long way toward encouraging lenders to make more loans to borrowers with lower credit scores.

The agency is developing a new methodology for evaluating underwriting defects to give lenders a better handle on the risk posed by any given flaw in a loan file.

Home prices nationwide jumped by 11.3% in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, according to an analysis released Tuesday by CoreLogic.

Freddie Mac, which along with Fannie Mae has forced home lenders to buy back tens of billions of dollars of flawed mortgages, said the companies are loosening rules that made banks more cautious about extending credit.

The Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corp. reported a decline in first-quarter profits driven largely by the early refinancing of agricultural securities.

The Senate Banking Committee will renew its markup of legislation to overhaul the housing finance system on Thursday, after abruptly postponing the deliberations late last month.

Lenders and loan officers are increasingly using social media to scout for customers, raising a host of compliance concerns, from preventing unauthorized use of brands to monitoring employee communications.

Credit card telemarketers allegedly “went off script” in describing the benefits and charges of credit protection plans to coax consumers into receiving them. The move has implications for loan officers.

The Senate Banking Committee is said to be moving toward a vote on major housing finance reform legislation next week, but the effort is likely to attract no more than 13 votes, falling short of what would be needed to advance the bill to the Senate floor this year.

Kroll Bond Rating Agency released a new monthly credit report to monitor the performance of commercial mortgage-backed securities.

Six Democrats whose support is crucial to a U.S. Senate plan to replace government-owned mortgage firms Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have decided they won't support the proposal without major revisions, dimming its chances of becoming law this year.

Atare Agbamu promised his elderly clients that reverse mortgages were regulated to protect them and their spouses and heirs. Then he came across a HUD letter to lenders indicating otherwise.

The regulator's Office of the Inspector General says it should have issued formal guidance to Fannie and Freddie over their dealings with the MIs.

GoLoansOnline.com, a Houston-based mortgage lead generator, will pay $225,000 to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it deceived consumers about the terms of their loans.

The government-sponsored enterprises remain profitable, but executives are raising fresh concerns about their ability to withstand a recession because of restrictions on raising capital.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will pay the U.S. Treasury Department a combined $10.2 billion by June 30, an amount reflecting the profits the U.S.-owned mortgage financiers reported for the first quarter.

A New York mortgage banker and five others were indicted for their alleged roles in a $30 million property flipping scheme that defrauded lenders, investors and secondary market participants.

Mortgage debt held by the elderly has soared over the past decade, driven in part by the foreclosure crisis, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said in a report.

Lenders are touting these loans to independent originators as an alternative way to make money in a new regulatory environment where the qualified mortgage rule caps salespeople's pay.

The chief operating officer of the Federal Housing Finance Agency is facing a felony charge for threatening to kill the agency’s former top official, according to Washington, D.C. police and Superior Court records.