Consumer lending

The acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Tuesday had his first taste of the withering congressional criticism endured by his predecessor on trips to Capitol Hill.

In some states, total mortgages outstanding are at all-time highs, but in others hard hit by the financial crisis they remain well below their 2008 peaks, the New York Fed said Tuesday in its quarterly report on household debt.

There was an increase in total mortgage defaults during the fourth quarter but that rise has to be measured in context of what had been a favorable environment prior to the third-quarter storms.

Warburg Pincus has agreed to buy a majority stake in a mortgage and consumer loan origination and servicing platform owned by Fiserv.

From insights about borrower payment preferences to new automation assisting with natural disaster recovery efforts, here's a roundup of news coming out of the Mortgage Bankers Association Servicing Conference.

Credit standards for commercial loans to medium and large firms showed some signs of easing over the last three months of 2017, even though demand stayed relatively unchanged.

Michael DeVito, who was named Wells Fargo's interim head of home lending after the bank fired consumer lending head Franklin Codel, is now officially leading the residential mortgage unit.

Social Finance has acquired the engineering and product teams of mortgage startup Clara Lending, bolstering the financial technology company's offerings beyond student-loan refinancing, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Oregon company's commercial and consumer lending grew even though fee income declined sharply.

Loans late by 90 days or more are increasingly concentrated in parts of Florida, Georgia and southeast Texas as fallout from the storms continues to weigh on the market.

The Honolulu bank reported strong loan growth in the fourth quarter, but one-time charges related to the new tax law suppressed its profit.

Default rates in second mortgages and bank cards rose notably in December, suggesting consumers are having trouble managing increased spending.

The New York bank has begun marketing Marcus loans as a way to pay for home improvements, while also raising the maximum loan size to $40,000.

The weighted average FICO credit scores of securitized reperforming loans are deteriorating a little, according to a DBRS study of the bonds.

Weak loan growth, a $3.25 billion litigation accrual and other costs tied to the phony-accounts saga all added up to a messy fourth quarter for the San Francisco bank.

Fannie Mae's serious delinquency rate climbed to a high not seen since March 2017, but remained lower than it was 12 months prior.

They aren't creating new products, but some lenders are advising cash-strapped customers in high-tax states to tap home equity or other credit lines to prepay property taxes before the new tax law kicks in.

Any decline in home equity balances could be offset by higher demand for other types of consumer loans. The worry is that only borrowers with blemished credit will take out home equity loans, increasing banks’ risk.

Residential and commercial property tax delinquencies are slightly higher in the Northeast and South than in the Midwest and West, but improving economic conditions are keeping the national delinquency rate in check.

The executive tasked with reshaping Wells Fargo's embattled retail banking unit will now also be responsible for mortgage, auto and student lending.