Law and regulation

The Federal Reserve said persistently low inflation could hamper the economic expansion and pledged to keep buying $85 billion in bonds every month.

National Mortgage Insurance Corp. has agreed to insure about $5 billion in residential mortgages in its first risk transfer transaction with Fannie Mae.

The Senate has passed a Home Equity Conversion Mortgage reform bill by unanimous consent that will give the Federal Housing Administration the authority to quickly fix its troubled reverse mortgage program by issuing mortgagee letters.

The number of state-licensed mortgage companies totaled 15,842 at the end of the first quarter.

A few companies took a different path choosing to involve their employees by sharing all related business information and asking: What can we do together to cut costs and survive through the crisis period?

Richmond, Calif., is the first city in the nation to try eminent domain as a way to stop foreclosures.

The U.S. homeownership rate, which soared to a record high 69.2% in 2004, is back where it was two decades ago, before the housing bubble inflated and ripped more than 7 million Americans from their homes.

The Tax Foundation's economic model finds that after the effects of wiping out the mortgage deduction are fully phased in, the economy would shrink by $254 billion.

Due process is an integral piece of each failed transaction.

Senate majority leader Harry Reid would like to call for a vote this week to confirm Rep. Mel Watt to be the new GSE regulator, but it looks like a vote will be put off until September when the senators return from their August recess.

A recent settlement that also orders mortgage debt collection procedure changes may give another boost to already intense federal efforts to prevent unlawful practices and change the industry.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's crackdown on Castle & Cooke Mortgage is the first in what could be a string of enforcement actions against mortgage originators for allegedly failing to follow new loan officer compensation rules.

Derrick D. Cephas has been elected to the board of directors of the Housing Partnership Development Corp.

The biggest compliance issues credit unions will face in the next 12 months relate to every step of the mortgage process.

As FHA mortgage insurance protection has changed, it has pushed some mortgages into the "higher priced" category.

We're hearing that in the wake of the financial crisis traditional advertising and marketing messages from the banking industry may be falling on deaf ears.

The Senate Banking Committee is slated to mark up and vote on a Federal Housing Administration reform bill on July 31.

GMAC Mortgage will pay $230 million to compensate borrowers for deficient practices in mortgage loan servicing and foreclosure processing.

We're hearing that the Senate is bracing for a fight over the confirmation of Rep. Mel Watt to be the new GSE regulator.

Renewed agency reform and rate increases, as well as agency mortgage-backed securities volatility, increase the need to illuminate repo funding risks.