Law and regulation

Standard & Poor’s agreed to a one-year suspension from rating certain commercial mortgage bonds and $80 million in fines to settle charges with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the New York and Massachusetts Attorneys Generals offices.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recently issued a report showing that nearly half of all mortgage borrowers did not comparison shop. Will additional disclosure help if consumers don't use it?

Mortgage brokers and nonbank lenders who operate outside the reach of federal bank regulators are thriving in Canada after the country introduced a half-dozen mortgage rules since 2008 to cool its soaring home prices.

The federal government's recent decisions to lower annual premiums for new borrowers and reduce down payment requirements suggest it has little interest in making room for private capital in the mortgage market.

In the past, the most prominent tax breaks have generally been treated as equals — the mortgage deduction is pretty much the same as, say, the capital gains preference or the charitable contributions write-off. But they're not equal.

Same-sex married couples who own their homes can now change the way their property is deeded, holding it in a way that wasn't available to them before the same-sex marriage became legal in Florida this month.

Altisource Portfolio Solutions promoted John Vella to the new position of chief revenue officer in a bid to grow beyond its relationship with embattled former parent Ocwen Financial.

Sen. Johnson points out that a drafting error in the Dodd-Frank Act led to the current interpretation, which includes mortgage brokerage compensation in the 3% points and fees test.

Michigan homeowners facing a loss of their houses to foreclosure will find it easier to solve their financial problems as a result of a package of bills signed by Gov. Rick Snyder.

The city of Owensboro, Ky., has plowed through a complicated process that led to a mass foreclosure action against 21 problem properties, most of them residential. Now, the city has its sights on another set of similar problem properties for foreclosure.

Facing the prospect of losing its license in California, Ocwen would be wise to settle its probe by state regulators in a timely manner, observers said. If it doesn't, the mortgage servicer could lose significant revenue and might even face a cash crunch.

The American Land Title Association released a statement pushing back against a new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau initiative.

A federal agency's plan to tighten membership rules for Federal Home Loan banks would hurt community banks and credit unions — and could endanger the financial system, according to a broad array of stakeholders, including state regulators, lawmakers and institutions.

Two Harbors' first residential mortgage securitization of the year doesn't exactly break any new ground.

Fears that lower Federal Housing Administration premiums will negatively affect private mortgage insurance firms are overblown. If anything, the plan should be a modest positive for the overall housing market.

The U.S. Supreme Court gave homeowners more ability to cancel their mortgages if lenders don't provide the required disclosures, in a setback for the banking industry.

Standard & Poor's is close to a settlement of about $1 billion with the U.S. for allegedly misleading investors about its ratings of mortgage-backed securities before the subprime crisis.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is launching a toolkit on Tuesday that will help consumers shop for a mortgage by finding the best rates in their area based on data the agency gathers from lenders.

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro moved swiftly on Thursday to defend pending cuts to the Federal Housing Administration's premiums, rebutting GOP arguments they are premature.

Private mortgage insurance stocks tumbled Wednesday amid news that President Obama is expected to announce cuts to the Federal Housing Administration's annual premiums.