Law and regulation

New York's banking regulator asked Ocwen Financial Corp. for information about an insurance agreement that it says may be designed to funnel fees to an Ocwen affiliate for minimal work.

The unintended consequences of these guidelines could force smaller title agencies to close their doors.

It has been nearly six years since the Seattle-based bank was seized and there is a deadline for the agency to sue anyone it believes owes the bank some money.

Investors have spent years seeking compensation for losses sustained during the housing bust from the firms that made mortgage loans and repackaged them into securities.

If finalized and then approved by regulators, the combination of the Des Moines and Seattle Home Loan banks would be the first voluntary merger in the system’s history.

Bank of America Corp. is nearing a settlement with the Justice Department after raising its proposed offer to resolve probes into its sale of mortgage-backed bonds in the run-up to the financial crisis.

Bank of America Corp.'s Countrywide unit was ordered to pay $1.3 billion in penalties for defective mortgage loans sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis, a little more than half of what the federal government had requested.

The legislation, sponsored by Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-Mo., would delay implementation of a provision of Basel III capital rules that establishes higher requirements on mortgage servicing rights.

Customer relationship management technology and new regulations require lenders and loan officers to re-evaluate how they manage the ownership and use of lead sheets.

The CFPB and other regulators are showing an increasing appetite for big data. The HMDA database may be the biggest in the mortgage business and a preview of the upcoming dataset may give lenders a chance to stay one step ahead of the feds.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau requests data that if used too zealously could cause a massive restriction in the market and a reduction in the type and amount of lenders.

Acquiring the technology vendor would help Altisource build a marketplace for ancillary mortgage services and reduce the company's reliance on its former parent and top client, Ocwen.

New and experienced compliance experts have to learn the nuances of all the new regulations.

Mortgage executives are optimistic about the direction of the housing industry, but still think it is difficult for consumers to obtain real estate financing.

Although the proposal to add more Home Mortgage Disclosure Act requirements was required by the Dodd-Frank Act, those in the lending industry said they were taken aback by the amount of additional information the CFPB is seeking, arguing it goes way beyond the regulatory reform law.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a proposal Thursday that would require lenders to disclose more information about mortgages, including the age and credit score of homebuyers, the property value and interest rate details.

Public officials must make it clear once and for all that the law forbids them to deny or delay a loan because an applicant is pregnant or on parental leave.

JPMorgan Chase may need to pay more than the $4.5 billion it offered to settle investor claims over faulty mortgages packaged into securities before the U.S. housing crash.

Two federal agencies and 15 states have taken more than 40 actions against foreclosure relief operations, alleging the firms charged distressed borrowers millions of dollars in fees without following through on service.

The Department of Veterans Affairs' residual income test would give lenders more confidence to make riskier loans, according to an Urban Institute study.