Law and regulation

A California thrift's experience with mortgage servicing could give banks a reason to reconsider plans to ditch the business despite concerns about new regulations.

An order from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California filed Monday formally dismissed the suit in line with comments made by the adjudicating judge at a hearing late last week.

The industry needs to realize that the only way lenders and servicers can possibly protect themselves from future lawsuits, claims, buybacks or loan disputes is to take everything they do into the electronic realm.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has ruled that seller points can be excluded from the 3% points and fees test in the qualified mortgage rule.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has removed some obstacles to community banks offering balloon mortgages in rural areas, but the exemption in the qualified mortgage rule should be expanded further.

The scheme allegedly has victimized more than a thousand homeowners, who have paid in excess of $3.4 million.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has filed more lawsuits against the directors and officers of failed financial institutions in 2013 than in any year since the recession.

The new president of the California Association of Mortgage Professionals also is planning a marketing and image campaign for the industry.

Comptroller of the Currency Thomas Curry strongly supported an accounting proposal on Monday that may force banks to increase reserves based on predictions of credit losses in addition to looking at past performance.

The Chicago Federal Home Loan Bank seems to be continually looking for ways to expand its mortgage conduit program so member banks, thrifts and credit unions will have broader access to the secondary market.

Former Rep. Barney Frank criticized regulators' latest effort to craft an exemption for proposed risk retention requirements, warning it was overly broad.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has issued a final rule that contains 273 pages of refinements to its qualified mortgage, loan officer compensation and servicing rules.

Data through July 2013 show over 1.7 million homeowners received foreclosure mitigation assistance through the Making Home Affordable Program.

We're hearing the housing and mortgage industry can pat themselves on the back for their lobbying effort to block the PATH Act.

Now more than ever, lenders have to pay attention to their contracts with employees to avoid a loan officer compensation audit or other regulatory concern.

Has it been five years already? It has been five years since the federal government nationalized the mortgage industry by taking over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The top leaders of the Senate Banking Committee said they intend to reach a bipartisan agreement by yearend on a bill to revamp the mortgage finance system despite fears that the issue is losing momentum.

Mounting regulations—and legislation still to unfold—continue to cause an extraordinary amount of concern for servicers.

The industry is largely ready for new rules affecting procedures for force-placed insurance on residential properties, but not everyone is.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is coming under pressure to reconsider its position regarding a provision in the qualified mortgage rule that penalizes title companies that are affiliated with lenders.