Law and regulation

The U.S. Treasury is seeking to stoke issuance in the mortgage-bond market by pushing credit-rating firms to offer more information on how they might grade securities tied to riskier loans.

A federal court in North Carolina ruled against the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s takeover and multimillion-dollar loan loss claim against Cooperative Bank.

Despite regulatory constraints on servicing transfers that affect large players, increased compliance costs and capital ratio requirements are a bigger burden for smaller servicers to bear.

Another important concern when it comes to the safety of borrowers' home loan information is physical location. There have been many physical loan files stolen, as well as computers.

A plea for the Federal Housing Administration official to finish clarifying the rights of spouses unnamed on Home Equity Conversion Mortgages before she leaves office.

FirstBank Mortgage Partners in Jackson, Tenn., has agreed to pay $35,000 to settle allegations that it violated the Fair Housing Act by denying a mortgage loan to an applicant on maternity leave.

Mortgage real estate investment trusts are an important source of private capital for the housing market and appear to be aligned with the mission of the Federal Home Loan Banks, according to a top advisor to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew.

Community bankers are launching a last-ditch effort to push the Senate this year to pass more than a dozen bipartisan regulatory relief bills that have already cleared the House with support from both parties.

National Credit Union Administration board member Rick Metsger said a Federal Housing Finance Agency proposal to restrict Federal Home Loan Bank membership could give banks an unfair advantage over some smaller credit unions.

Common sense underwriting, a regulatory system that abides by contract law, and borrowers who consider homeownership a privilege, not an entitlement, make Canada perfect for private -label residential mortgage-backed securities.

Interest rate risk. Demanding regulatory and GSE standards. Shifting demographics. These are among the reasons that lenders will have a hard time balancing the call for affordable home loans with legal and market realities.

A federal judge has dismissed an attempt by the New York Bankers Association to block a New York City law requiring an evaluation of community investments made by banks holding the city's deposits.

New regulatory and investor compliance requirements have put a renewed emphasis on quality control measures. But lenders are discovering the additional costs of these efforts are outweighed by the savings from originating fewer defective loans.

The draft released by the top Financial Services Committee Democrat would remove adverse information from credit reports and require consumer data furnishers to retain records.

Standard & Poor's chances of settling the government's lawsuit over mortgage-bond ratings for less than $1 billion may have slipped away after Bank of America Corp.'s Countrywide unit was socked with a $1.3 billion fine.

The Federal Housing Administration wants lenders to make fewer mistakes when writing mortgages for the government insurance program. The agency also wants to serve more borrowers with low credit scores. Getting both may be tricky.

Morgan Stanley agreed to pay $95 million to settle a lawsuit by buyers of residential mortgage-backed securities who accused the bank of making false and misleading claims about the underlying loans.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency is receptive to the idea of Federal Home Loan Bank mergers, according to the agency's director.

The Federal Housing Administration started selling distressed loans in 2012 to help communities hit hard by foreclosures while also reducing losses to its taxpayer-backed insurance fund.

Allegations lenders failed to lend in certain geographic areas that are racially or ethnically diverse are mounting.