Law and regulation

The GSEs make mortgages? Banks don't? For an economics professor who has made the causes of the housing collapse a central campaign issue, David Brat sure doesn't sweat the details.

The Federal Housing Administration is on better financial footing thanks to an expected $418 million payment from SunTrust in a settlement resolving claims that the bank originated defective loans.

Student loan payments can be up to 20% of a graduate's current monthly debt obligations. Based on current housing ratios, that does not leave a lot of room for mortgage payments.

The Federal Reserve Board on Wednesday continued to shrink its stimulus program by yet another $10 billion clip.

The HAWK program could help participating lenders differentiate themselves from the flock. But the proposed mortgage insurance premium discounts for borrowers who receive counseling are too modest, industry members say.

Julian Castro pledged to recapitalize the FHA insurance fund and work with Congress on GSE reform but equivocated when a Senator asked about cities condemning underwater mortgages.

Rep. Randy Neugebauer, R-Texas, introduced a new plan Tuesday to modify and extend the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act.

The program was previously available to first-time homebuyers only.

When the qualified mortgage rule took effect in January, many predicted the rule would stifle lending to low-income and minority borrowers. But a credit crunch never materialized, thanks to exemptions given to federal mortgage agencies.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has ordered a New Jersey company, Stonebridge Title Services Inc., to pay $30,000 for paying illegal kickbacks for referrals.

Smaller banks face a tricky choice with jumbo loans: hold them and face rate risk, or sell them to a bigger bank and risk losing a customer. An unusual arrangement between the FHLB and a REIT could offer community banks a better route.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recognized a distinction in terms of the treatment of persons working for a company based upon their classification as employees or contractors.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are exempt from state and local taxes, including transfer taxes, a Washington appeals court ruled in the latest decision shielding the government-owned mortgage finance companies from attempts to collect levies on property transfers.

The Chicago Federal Home Loan Bank reaches agreement with Redwood Trust so member institutions can sell loans to the private-label issuer.

Sen. Lindsay Graham questioned payments to a senior advisor of Shaun Donovan, who currently heads the Department of Housing and Urban Development and has been nominated to lead the Office of Management and Budget.

The CFPB believes that the answer to all of these problems lies in taking the paper completely out of the transaction and closing electronically.

A downpayment remains a high hurdle for consumers seeking mortgages. Lowering this hurdle increasingly seems in line with industry and regulatory goals—assuming borrowers don't default. There's the rub.

A new trade group is making an effort to educate veterans about the lesser-known, low-downpayment, government-backed loan program, while the Department of Veterans Affairs works to clarify rules and recruit appraisers.

The Massachusetts attorney general's lawsuit against Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac seeks to aid a nonprofit whose CEO has close political ties to Martha Coakley's gubernatorial campaign.

Though the bulk of the ambitious Housing New York plan is intended to build or rehabilitate rentals, there are several homeownership components as well.