Housing

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has downgraded the Community Reinvestment Act rating for BancorpSouth in Tupelo, Miss.

Mayor Bill de Blasio on Thursday nominated Eric Enderlin to be president of the New York City Housing Development Corp., the city's housing finance arm and a major player in de Blasio's affordable housing initiative.

Mortgage lenders can expand their businesses by catering to borrowers who aren't proficient in English, but doing so requires strategic recruiting and hiring and compliance with federal and state regulations.

The emergence of lenders that have no real connection to a geographic area prompts questions over how the Community Reinvestment Act’s “good neighbor” policy can continue.

A proposed 50% expansion to the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program would yield new opportunities for banks to finance development projects and meet their Community Reinvestment Act obligations.

President Obama has signed a housing reform bill that will open the door for welfare recipients to use federal rent vouchers to purchase manufactured homes and become homeowners.

Mortgage interest deduction limit applies on per taxpayer basis.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has reached an agreement with Citizens Bank to settle allegations that the bank discriminated against a woman on maternity leave.

The Democratic and Republican platforms adopted at this year's party conventions take a more forward-looking approach to housing issues than they did four years ago. But they have distinctly different views on the government's role in maintaining a robust mortgage industry.

Democrats will adopt a party platform this week that omits most references to a need for continued post-housing crisis reforms, and instead focuses on expanding access to mortgage credit and support for industry regulation.

Regulators sought to limit improper contact between lenders and appraisers, but policies of the two mortgage giants encourage the kind of practices that contributed to the housing crisis.

The official platform of the Republican Party has softened language calling for the end of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, while continuing to demand reform of the government-sponsored enterprises.

There were patterns of racial disparities in mortgage originations in the St. Louis, Milwaukee and Minneapolis metropolitan statistical areas, according to the National Community Reinvestment Coalition.

Karl "Chip" Case, the co-creator of the S&P/Case-Shiller Index of home prices, has died at 69.

The Mortgage Partnership Finance Direct program will now accept larger jumbo mortgages and a wider variety of products including hybrid adjustable rate mortgages, the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago and Redwood Trust said Monday.The partners said that the program would accept jumbos of up to $2. 5 million, a boost from the previous $1.5 million limit.

The $140 billion-asset company disclosed Thursday in a regulatory filing that the Federal Reserve Board downgraded its Community Reinvestment Act rating to "needs to improve."

While many depositories do just enough mortgage lending to low- to moderate-income borrowers to meet statutory requirements, The Federal Savings Bank has made it a backbone for growth.

Calling the crazy-idea department…a U.S. Bancorp-branded bus is more than halfway through a cross-country, social-media-tracked journey to promote community development and alter its profile. It's an example of the new style of reputation-oriented marketing being pursued by banks.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp is buying a bank with a national mortgage platform. The company hopes the business will provide a much-needed lift in fee income.

BancorpSouth Bank agreed Wednesday to a $10.6 million settlement with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Justice Department for allegedly discriminatory mortgage lending practices that harmed minorities.