Law and regulation

Panelists at the MBA's mortgage servicing conference said that the best way for servicers to keep federal regulators off their backs is to be responsive consumer complaints. And if a state attorney general or regulator come knocking, it’s best to be responsive and cooperative.

ClosingCorp, a resident real estate closing cost data and technology provider, has released Lumen Risk Management Suite, a group of services that help lenders manage the closing process.

The Mortgage Bankers Association's annual servicing conference opened with a plea from Quicken Loans CEO Bill Emerson for executives to remember their duty beyond collecting loan payments from borrowers.

Analytics provider CoreLogic has designed a suite of new tools aimed at helping loan servicers provide servicemember customers with the benefits they are entitled to.

Lenders must carefully ensure that all potential motivations for advice, recommendations, and referrals are provided to borrowers, as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has positioned itself to utilize Unfair Deceptive or Abusive Acts Practices claims as an enforcement tool.

Although the new rules address many of the issues presented by non-borrowing spouses, one of the rules' principal shortcomings is that they do not sufficiently outline the rebalancing of principal that is often required to substitute these new borrowers.

Recent court decisions against Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shareholders have put to rest the notion that the two mortgage giants exist as anything but instrumentalities of the U.S. government, according to a report by Kroll Bond Rating Agency.

While the origination industry has begun to see the light at the end of tunnel, its headaches haven't subsided just yet, based on the results of a survey by recruiting firm Hammerhouse.

CFPB officials are keeping a close watch on the Qualified Mortgage and ability-to-repay rules to gauge whether further changes should be made. But mortgage numbers don't give a clear picture on what kind of impact they've had.

Here's a preview of some of the most interesting and important presentations scheduled at this year's MBA Servicing Conference, as selected by the editors of National Mortgage News.

Freddie Mac will return $900 million to the Treasury Department next month, bringing total payments to nearly $21 billion above what it received in federal aid after the 2008 credit crisis.

The independent monitor overseeing Bank of America's compliance with requirements of its landmark mortgage settlement agreement has released his first report on the bank's consumer relief activities.

Consulting firm Teraverde Management Advisors has formed a new business unit to help clients grapple with their compliance requirements.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has issued more than $651 million in Indian Housing Block Grants in February.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, who forced Wall Street's biggest banks to pay billions in fines for their roles in the subprime mortgage crisis, is pressing for action against executives at those firms, even as he prepares to leave his post.

They're called "zombie properties" — dilapidated, abandoned and overgrown with weeds because the lending institutions inheriting them through foreclosure fail to maintain them.

With less than three weeks to go before new financial assessments for reverse mortgages became mandatory, the Federal Housing Administration announced Thursday that it will delay their effective date due to technical issues.

About 1,000 servicemembers are eligible to receive more than $123 million from five mortgage service companies as compensation for unlawful home foreclosures, the Justice Department announced.

Amid a growing investor appetite for risk, efforts to standardize private-label securities are key to helping ensure the market's healthy return.

Emphasizing the good factors of TILA-RESPA is an important part of ensuring the project team is sending the right message throughout the company.