Law and regulation

JPMorgan Chase will pay $614 million to settle claims it improperly approved Federal Housing Administration and Veterans Affairs loans that weren't eligible for insurance from those agencies because they didn't meet underwriting requirements.

K-deals transfer a portion of the mortgages' risk away from taxpayers and to private investors who purchase the unguaranteed subordinate bonds in transactions.

Morgan Stanley agreed to pay $1.25 billion to settle a U.S. regulator’s claims that the investment bank sold faulty mortgage-backed securities to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

He also calls for a cut in fees for title policies, but no one can find where it is in the budget.

ALTA's guidelines have a number of implications for mortgage lenders.

Freddie Mac’s regulator capped its multifamily production at $26 billion last year.

Donovan seeks $5 billion a year to preserve and increase the supply of rentals for extremely low-income families.

The price the bank had to pay related to Countrywide mortgage fraud claims escalated over time, exemplifying the government’s willingness to seek draconian penalties against banks it deems acted intentionally.

There's an elephant in the room amidst discussions on how to unwind Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac—the two government-sponsored enterprises are now making money hand over fist.

FHA officials believe lenders will qualify more borrowers with sub-680 credit scores via manual underwriting, but there is concern they will simply limit originations to plain-vanilla FHA.

Right now, there are contradictory messages between servicers of what is compliant. Utilizing technology can help servicers remain compliant to all of the industry regulation in effect today.

The settlement is part of CEO Brian Moynihan’s efforts to resolve liabilities tied to faulty mortgages that have cost the company at least $50 billion since the financial crisis.

The real estate investment trust recorded a consecutive-quarter earnings gain on Thursday that reflects slower prepayments in its agency adjustable-rate mortgage portfolio during the last three months of 2013.

Chances that Congress will move this year to wind down or transform the GSEs are dimming as lawmakers confront a split among Senate Democrats and a change at the regulator of the mortgage finance companies.

Disparate impact alleged in Fair Housing Act complaints remains a high concern for mortgage originators as they enter the new era of the qualified mortgage.

The measure now goes to the House and an uncertain future.

Mortgage companies, including mortgage servicing and property preservation firms that invest in the wrong type of data drilling and search engine optimization tools, can be in big trouble.

James Lee Lankford orchestrated an 11-year mortgage fraud scam that looted elderly homeowners and lending institutions.

The Federal Housing Administration will immediately start accepting electronic signatures on all mortgage insurance endorsement and servicing documents, and will accept e-signatures on promissory notes beginning Dec. 31.

BlackRock Solutions as an advisor is offering more than $2 billion in bonds from 234 nonagency RMBS that the agency acquired when bailing out ING Groep.