Law and regulation

A new state law meant to combat the blight of "zombie" homes across New York lacks effective enforcement to hold banks accountable for actually maintaining the properties on Staten Island.

Twenty years ago, Texas became the last state in the union to legalize the home equity loan, allowing people for the first time to use their own homes as collateral.

Florida wades deeper into hurricane season as the debate heightens over what to do with the deeply indebted National Flood Insurance Program and its coverage of properties prone to repeated flooding.

Mayor Byron W. Brown is overhauling the board that oversees Buffalo's public housing for 10,000 residents, an initial step toward tackling ongoing problems at the agency.

The marketplace lender's application for an industrial bank charter is under fire from small banks and progressives, who say it could violate the barrier between banking and commerce and shut out middle-class and lower-income consumers.

California Gov. Jerry Brown and legislative leaders announced that the state's housing crisis will be at the top of their agenda when lawmakers return in August from a month-long break.

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling continued the drumbeat of Republican attacks on Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray.

Supporters maintain hope that the Federal Housing Administration will revive a proposed premium cut, but a key obstacle remains: There's no one to run the agency.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's final rule to formalize guidance on a number of TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosures compliance points omits an originally proposed fix for the so-called black hole that's created when a mortgage closing is delayed.

Canadian officials are working to slow a rapid rise in home prices that's being attributed to tight inventory levels in the country's largest cities and is threatening to create a housing bubble.