Law and regulation

Government cops have been responsible for recouping nearly $5 billion from fraudsters since 2008.

If Congress allows the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act to expire, homeowners who restructure their mortgages or are foreclosed upon would be required to pay taxes on canceled debt.

New standards give borrowers the upper hand in seeking loan modifications.

Lawyers for a Pennsylvania bank say the draft complaint may lead to the discovery of evidence that could be used in its own case against JPMorgan Chase.

Regulatory pressure is expected to be as strong as ever next year when mortgage lenders and servicers will test new waters in compliance implementation, process improvements and business strategies. Market veterans find regulatory compliance risks are higher almost in every area of the business.

Affordability issues will reduce the stock of potential homebuyers.

Following new legislation issued by the CFPB earlier in November, the mortgage industry’s voluntary standards organization has extended the comment period beyond yearend 2013.

The CFPB's "Know Before You Owe" rule combining TILA and RESPA disclosures "is one of the largest and most impactful regulatory changes credit unions have probably ever seen,” one analyst says.

Lenders' choices today are stark: Make Qualified Mortgage loans and risk being sued under the disparate-impact doctrine; make non-QM loans and risk being sued under the ability-to-pay-doctrine; or sell their loans to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Annual monetary returns to customers that totaled $130 million last year would be wiped out if the qualified mortgage rule's 3% cap remains as proposed.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency could slow efforts to shrink Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and boost aid to troubled borrowers if U.S. Representative Mel Watt is confirmed as the agency’s director early next month.

JPMorgan Chase’s $13 billion mortgage-backed securities settlement reinforces the industry’s need to keep tabs on originations, even if reform is supposed to end this kind of problem.

Maintaining a compensation distinction is very risky in the event that the brokered products are viable alternatives for borrowers and could essentially compete against self-funded alternatives.

Kareem Serageldin marked up the collateralized debt obligations to meet targets and boost yearend bonuses for his $5.35 billion trading book, prosecutors claimed.

The Federal Reserve vice chair is getting closer to being in the driver’s seat on Fed issues that affect home loan trading, including how mortgage bonds factor into liquidity coverage ratios.

A letter has been sent to the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency demanding more information about the settlement.

The Oct. 31 rejection of North Carolina Democrat Mel Watt’s nomination to head the Federal Housing Finance Agency led to the move.

New forms need to be revised to account for recent regulatory changes, but laying the groundwork for the new documents will be tough.

The bank struck an agreement this week to settle potential state and federal civil claims of misrepresentations in mortgage-bond sales by the lender and companies it acquired.