Economy

Mel Watt, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, has set off a political tempest.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau slapped Franklin Loan Corp. with a $730,000 fine on Thursday for allegedly incentivizing loan officers to guide customers into mortgages with higher interest rates.

Fannie Mae has entered into deals with JPMorgan Chase and other companies that transfer some of the credit-loss risk on mortgage-backed securities to investors. Not only do these deals reduce the danger that taxpayers could be forced to cover the GSEs losses, they may help make mortgages more affordable.

New York financial regulator Benjamin Lawsky held up the deal shortly after it was announced in January, and regulatory and legal concerns had mounted since then.

For the fifth year in a row, Quicken Loans is rated No. 1 by consumers in terms of customer satisfaction, according to a J.D. Power survey.

Republicans are unlikely to push the ball forward on reform of the federal housing agencies, but Congress has a number of other opportunities to make changes that will encourage mortgage lending.

Mortgage rates fell slightly compared to last week, according to Freddie Mac.

Community banks, on average, increased the size of their loan portfolios by 15% in the third quarter from a year earlier, though the numbers reveal a slowdown from prior periods.

Applications for new home purchases picked up in October, particularly for higher-priced properties, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Regulators are preparing rules to curb financial risks of expanding nonbank mortgage companies after investigating homeowner complaints that include improper foreclosures and unauthorized fees.

Nonbank mortgage lender loanDepot has reached an agreement to acquire Mortgage Master.

A new multifamily investment product will for the first time allow Freddie Mac to buy and guarantee bonds backed by multifamily loans that were originally underwritten by private entities.

One-third of the nation's counties now have access to e-recording software, according to the Property Records Industry Association,

Mortgage applications declined for the third consecutive week as fewer borrowers are choosing to refinance due to rising interest rates.

A renewed interest in subdivisions that stalled during the recession is likely the main reason the California Debt and Investment Advisory Commission reported doubling of refunding volume in land-secured Mello-Roos bonds from fiscal year 2011-12 to 2012-13, according to government consultant Larry Kosmont.

Home values in major metro areas across the country continued to climb in October, according to Quicken Loans.

According to Zillow's latest home price expectation survey, the millennial generation is not buying properties right now because their rents are too high.

Industry observers have mixed reactions on whether next year's Republican-controlled Congress will finally address long-stalled efforts to reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Commercial mortgage-backed security delinquencies declined during October, according to Fitch Ratings.

Mortgage insurers Radian Guaranty Inc. and MGIC Investment Corp. both saw their inventory of delinquent loans drop during October.