Law and regulation

Green Tree's bad report card comes as regulators and lawmakers are scrutinizing nonbank servicers that have aggressively purchased mortgage servicing rights from banks.

The government-sponsored enterprises just went a long way toward encouraging lenders to make more loans to borrowers with lower credit scores.

The agency is developing a new methodology for evaluating underwriting defects to give lenders a better handle on the risk posed by any given flaw in a loan file.

In a wide-ranging speech on Tuesday, new FHFA Director Mel Watt said he would not weigh in on the housing finance reform debate percolating in Congress, while also detailing what changes he plans to make at the agency, including encouraging more access to credit.

Following two years in which its big-bank peers paid almost $2 billion to resolve fraud accusations by the Federal Housing Administration, Wells Fargo has decided it isn't giving up so easily.

The Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corp. reported a decline in first-quarter profits driven largely by the early refinancing of agricultural securities.

The Senate Banking Committee will renew its markup of legislation to overhaul the housing finance system on Thursday, after abruptly postponing the deliberations late last month.

Lenders and loan officers are increasingly using social media to scout for customers, raising a host of compliance concerns, from preventing unauthorized use of brands to monitoring employee communications.

Credit card telemarketers allegedly “went off script” in describing the benefits and charges of credit protection plans to coax consumers into receiving them. The move has implications for loan officers.

The Senate Banking Committee is said to be moving toward a vote on major housing finance reform legislation next week, but the effort is likely to attract no more than 13 votes, falling short of what would be needed to advance the bill to the Senate floor this year.

Arizona has revised its education requirements while Virginia has introduced a new category of loan officer.

Six Democrats whose support is crucial to a U.S. Senate plan to replace government-owned mortgage firms Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have decided they won't support the proposal without major revisions, dimming its chances of becoming law this year.

Atare Agbamu promised his elderly clients that reverse mortgages were regulated to protect them and their spouses and heirs. Then he came across a HUD letter to lenders indicating otherwise.

GoLoansOnline.com, a Houston-based mortgage lead generator, will pay $225,000 to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it deceived consumers about the terms of their loans.

The government-sponsored enterprises remain profitable, but executives are raising fresh concerns about their ability to withstand a recession because of restrictions on raising capital.

Proposed reforms for Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae seem to be bogged down in the House and Senate. It might be time for legislators to start thinking about different solutions.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will pay the U.S. Treasury Department a combined $10.2 billion by June 30, an amount reflecting the profits the U.S.-owned mortgage financiers reported for the first quarter.

A New York mortgage banker and five others were indicted for their alleged roles in a $30 million property flipping scheme that defrauded lenders, investors and secondary market participants.

Most of what I've been visiting with you about in this series has been about conversion, since I expect it to be the word of the year for 2014.

The chief operating officer of the Federal Housing Finance Agency is facing a felony charge for threatening to kill the agency’s former top official, according to Washington, D.C. police and Superior Court records.