Compliance

A legal safe harbor designed to protect lenders that make qualified mortgage loans from consumer lawsuits is likely to expose institutions to potentially even greater liability.

New York State's chief banking regulator is tightening the screws on banks that lend to landlords, increasing the requirements for Community Reinvestment Act credit.

The North Las Vegas City Council unanimously rejected a plan to use eminent domain to seize underwater mortgages.

Financial institutions are on the lookout and preparing to fight new mortgage repurchase demands from the government-sponsored enterprises now reviewing files from as far back as 2002.

Four people in Wichita, Kan., have pleaded guilty to participating in a mortgage fraud that cost lenders more than $221,000.

Two industry groups are urging a congressional watchdog agency to review the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s consumer complaint database for possible privacy issues.

Fannie Mae is starting to prepare investors for the first transaction in which the firm would share the risk of homeowner defaults with bond buyers.

NCUA has filed almost $10 billion of claims against the biggest Wall Street banks for the sale of faulty mortgage-backed securities to five failed corporate credit unions.

Nearly half of the borrowers participating in an online National Foundation for Credit Counseling survey would rather talk to a qualified professional when facing financial distress.

At one-tenth of a percentage point the seemingly small quarterly decline in the delinquency rate of loans held in commercial mortgage-backed securities during the second quarter of 2013 is the largest on record.

JPMorgan Chase’s Bear Stearns Asset Management persuaded a judge to dismiss a lawsuit by Bank of America Corp. over a collateralized debt obligation transaction that resulted in billions of dollars in losses.

The risk retention requirement was supposed to ensure lenders had "skin in the game" when making mortgages.

The American Bankers Association has endorsed SunTrust Mortgage to offer ABA members an outlet to sell mortgage loans on advantaged terms.

The issuance of U.S. commercial mortgage-backed securities has totaled $56 billion so far this year, handily beating the $48 billion place in all 2012

Fraudsters are looking for easy targets, because once a technology scam is detected the banking industry will quickly take action to thwart future instances by patching up network defenses.

In today’s multifaceted lending environment lenders need to use sophisticated loan servicing systems that support multiple business channels and adapt to ever-changing industry rules and regulations.

NCUA filed suit against Morgan Stanley & Co., Inc. and other firms, alleging violations of federal and state securities laws in the sale of more than $566 million in mortgage-backed securities to U.S. Central and WesCorp.

Arizona’s housing market, one of the nation’s four worst hit by the foreclosure crisis, is seeing constant improvements in housing prices, employment and overall recovery compared to 2012.

Stewart Lender Services, Houston, has acquired Allonhill LLC, a due diligence and risk management company based in Denver.

On an annual basis, loans at CUs were up 5% through June (up from 3% through June 2012), bringing total CU loans outstanding to $627 billion.