Compliance

A cybersecurity firm claims many large and small mortgage lenders are being careless with customers’ personal and financial data.

Communities and governments would avoid having to deal with abandoned properties on a protracted basis, which pulls down local property values and creates an unnecessary backlog in the court system.

Official puts servicers on notice that they should be ready to help borrowers who can’t afford the higher monthly payments.

Lawyers for Bank of America Corp.'s Countrywide unit and the U.S. government returned to a federal courtroom today to spar over whether the bank owes nothing—or as much as $2 billion—for selling thousands of defective mortgage loans to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Originating loans secured by condominium apartments or multi-unit properties is similar to the process for single-family properties but their are some important distinctions.

Senate Banking Committee leaders are proposing to capitalize a new mortgage cooperative with a government loan to ensure small and even regional lenders can sell their loans for cash.

Lenders don't want to make loans outside the Qualified Mortgage rule's tight debt-to-income standard. Young graduates don't want to add to their hefty monthly payments. Net effect: Fewer first-time buyers.

Mortgage bankers welcomed the Johnson-Crapo housing finance reform proposal as a start, but cautioned they had no illusions it will on its own bring private capital back to their industry.

State regulators fined Southeast Mortgage of Georgia $22,500 following allegations that the nonbank lender was doing business with an unlicensed loan originator.

The upstart mortgage insurer says the deal will open the door to doing business with hundreds of small and midsize lenders that regularly sell loans to the two aggregators.

Hope LoanPort has started new collaborative partnerships with several national organizations to collectively provide foreclosure-related fraud prevention assistance to homeowners.

The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act played a key role in helping underwater homeowners keep their homes after the crash. But it may also have unwittingly encouraged strategic default.

Sens. Tim Johnson, chairman of the Banking Committee, and Mike Crapo, the top Republican, laid out a preliminary bipartisan agreement on housing finance reform after months of deliberation.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could return $179 billion in profits to taxpayers over the next 10 years if they continue operating under federal conservatorship, according to White House budget analysts.

Keith Pedigo, who led efforts to modernize the Department of Veterans Affairs home loan guarantee program, has joined The Collingwood Group, founded by a former FHA commissioner.

The bank likely was worried about dealing with sellers who did not have the net worth to buy back loans.

USMI, successor to the Mortgage Insurance Cos. of America, says its top priority is to make sure whatever system replaces Fannie and Freddie uses at least as much private coverage.

A former managing director at the New York investment banking firm Jefferies & Co. has been convicted of multiple offenses involving a scheme to defraud customers trading in residential mortgage-backed securities.

As interest rates increase, prepayment speeds are falling precipitously, extending the maturities of mortgage-backed securities, especially the guaranteed variety. This trend is likely to cause future declines in MBS values.

Former Jefferies & Co. managing director Jesse Litvak was convicted in the only criminal case against an individual in connection with a U.S. program that used bailout funds to spur investment in mortgage-backed securities.