Economy

Ally Financial Inc. is re-entering the mortgage business just two years after it stopped making new home loans.

WASHINGTON — Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would be able to evaluate and use new credit scoring models under a bill introduced in the House that seeks to create more competition in the credit scoring industry.

The American Bankers Association has renewed its alliance with Freddie Mac to provide origination and servicing assistance to banks.

Many consumers misunderstand what is required to obtain a residential mortgage, according to a new Fannie Mae study.

Ditech has renewed its sponsorship of Kevin Harvick's No. 4 car which races for the Stewart-Has Racing team on the NASCAR Sprint Cup circuit.

U.S. Bancorp has plucked longtime lending executive Tom Wind from EverBank Financial to run its mortgage business.

Mortgage applications for new homes declined in November, although not as sharp a drop as is typical for this time of year, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Moody's said it has acquired BlackBox Logic, a Denver-based residential mortgage-backed securities data technology company, for an undisclosed amount of cash.

Mortgage rates rose for the week ending Dec. 10, on optimism tied to job growth and a possible rate hike by the Federal Reserve this month, according to Freddie Mac.

With a probable Federal Reserve rate increase on the horizon, title insurance providers are optimistic about future real estate transactions, according to First American Financial Corp.

The consumer lending market, including mortgages, will fully recover from the financial crisis by the end of 2016, according to a forecast by TransUnion.

San Francisco, Los Angeles and Boston are in danger of becoming real estate bubbles, according to Zillow.

Loan limits for the Federal Housing Administration mortgage insurance program in 2016 will rise in 188 counties across the nation where home prices increased.

For renter households in the U.S., new research on the current market has told a persistently troublesome story, with falling vacancy rates pushing rents higher and forcing households to spend greater shares of their incomes on housing.

Mortgage applications rose 1.2% on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ending Dec. 4, compared to the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

High loan-to-value ratio lending is gaining ground, spurred by the reintroduction 12 months ago of GSE-backed products that only require a 3% down payment, according to Black Knight Financial Services.

Mortgage credit availability declined in November because of a reduction in the number of adjustable-rate mortgage programs, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Fannie Mae has updated its underwriter servicing tool to make it easier for servicers to determine the eligibility of distressed homeowners for a loan modification.

Homeowners continue to overvalue their homes, in comparison to what appraisers believe, although the gap has narrowed for three straight months, according to Quicken Loans.

Freddie Mac has sold about $1.1 billion of seriously delinquent loans serviced by Wells Fargo.