Credit

Competition in other areas of consumer lending has driven both VantageScore and FICO to build credit scoring models that are more accurate and more consumer-friendly. Permitting that competition in the mortgage market can increase certainty for lenders and transparency for investors.

Tim Welsh has spent his first two months on the job thinking about how to make U.S. Bank as central to consumers’ lives as Amazon, develop new personal financial management services, and expand into new cities.

Mortgage lenders took on more risk in the second quarter as the share of loans to real estate investors and condominium owners increased, according to CoreLogic.

Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., plans to reintroduce legislation requiring the IRS to fast-track income verification, which proponents say could reduce the financial industry's dependence on credit bureaus.

Equifax observed an increasingly well-worn ritual of scandal-ridden firms by jettisoning CEO Richard Smith: apologize, promise to do better in the future, and sacrifice your top executive in the hopes it will ward off action by Congress and regulators.

Inevitably, Equifax’s CEO Richard Smith has left his post. For the credit bureau's sake, let's hope it has a long-term plan that's better than promoting from within.

The share of lenders easing credit for government-sponsored enterprise-eligible loans is at a high not seen since Fannie Mae started a survey to track it.

The hearings before the Senate Banking Committee have high stakes for both companies, as lawmakers are expected to ask the CEOs whether they should be fired.

Despite an uptick in interest rates, refinance loans held steady in August and closing rates reached a new 2017 high.

Default rates for first-lien mortgages rose slightly higher in August and remain lower year-over-year, but recent hurricanes could intensify loan performance concerns.

The Equifax breach has millions of Americans now thinking about freezing their credit to guard against identity theft. But those who act could be cutting themselves off from the nation's vast credit economy.

Efforts to persuade regulators to allow Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to use alternative credit scores would stifle competition between the credit bureaus and FICO and do little to expand access to credit, according to industry analyst Chris Whalen.

Senate Democrats' legislative bid to reform the credit reporting industry is tempered and balanced, according to analysts, which could help it gain traction in the GOP-controlled Congress.

The bill would create a federal obligation for credit reporting agencies to offer free credit freezes and prevent them from selling consumer information while a freeze is in place.

Banks should not point blame at the credit bureau but rather should step up and demonstrate their commitment to their customers. If you punt the problem to Equifax, it suggests you don’t really care.

Senate Finance Committee leaders sent a letter to Equifax CEO Richard Smith scrutinizing the scope of the company's data breach and its response.

Lawmakers signaled Monday that Congress will likely have a swift and powerful response to revelations that the credit reporting company Equifax was hacked, exposing 143 million people to identity theft.

Overall mortgage lending increased by 20% in the second quarter but was still down from a year earlier, according to Black Knight Financial Services.

As head of Fannie Mae's single-family mortgage business, Andrew Bon Salle wants to ease the burden of loan-level price adjustments, streamline condo loan approvals and expand rep and warrant relief. But even he admits there are limits to his power.

A credit service provider agreed to exit the industry on Wednesday after a yearlong lawsuit with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.