Compliance

The mortgage settlement between U.S. state attorneys general and the five largest servicers, in clarifying foreclosure standards for the industry, may be contributing to higher foreclosure initiation rates.

Recent delays in key secondary market regulations are among hurdles holding back the long-awaited return of the jumbo market, which some say is making some progress, but others think is too constricted by the current limits of secondary market outlets to reach a large scale.

If the courts uphold the use of eminent domain in taking mortgages, it would open the door for the cities to purchase the loans at fair value.

Todd Bettin was sentenced to over four years in prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with a five-year scheme to divert mortgage payoff funds from clients’ who were closing on 17 Maryland properties.

THIS JUST IN: Is a new subprime lender about to emerge? I know of one industry veteran who hopes to secure financing to originate nonprime low LTV mortgages.

Nationstar says it is increasing by $125 million its bid on mortgage-related assets that it hopes to buy from the bankrupt Residential Capital Corp.

The number of fraudsters who charge fees for securitization audits, which is easily accessible and free to all, is increasing.

Regional and midtier banks are seeing rising repurchase demands from government-controlled secondary market giants.

While the scandal surrounding the rigging of the London Interbank Offered Rate is expected to widen, the index is “so ingrained in the financial system” that there’s “little threat to its status as a global interest rate benchmark.

In an effort to squeeze out profits in a low-interest rate environment, banks are under increasing pressure to lower underwriting standards, offer new, potentially dangerous products and ignore operational risk.

If your mortgage banking employer isn’t making money hand-over-fist then there’s something terribly wrong.

Federal banking regulators repeatedly fell short in their efforts to alert foreclosed homeowners that they may be eligible for monetary relief.

Residential loan officers are entitled to overtime pay if their primary duty involves selling mortgages, according to the United States District Court in Washington.

A House investigative report says Countrywide Home Loans doled out almost 18,000 “Friends of Angelo” loans over a 12-year period, but the price breaks were not very significant.

Over the past 18 months, KB Home experienced a “great deal of disruption” as Bank of America and MetLife curtained their lending mortgage activities.

There are ways the Federal Housing Finance Agency could structure a principal reduction program and prevent strategic defaults, which the agency is “deathly afraid of."

Amid growing controversy fueled in part by the new mortgage servicing rules to be finalized by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau next year, the debate over the validity of lender-placed insurance is in full swing and expected to continue.

Most insiders support the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's plan to give lender-placed insurance a makeover.

It's no secret that many of our cities are financially strapped for cash as their expenses continue to outweigh their revenues year after year.However, declaring bankruptcy is not necessarily the answer.

FinCEN said an increase or decrease in SAR filings is not necessarily indicative of whether there is more or less mortgage loan fraud activities taking place nationwide.