Mortgage defaults

The Federal Housing Administration said it would cut the annual premium by 25 basis points starting on Jan. 27, giving President-elect Donald Trump a limited window to delay or scrap the cut.

The number of homeowners underwater on their mortgage continues to shrink as the amount of tappable home equity grows, according to Black Knight Financial Services.

Weakness in the energy sector and a surge in new construction are pushing up vacancy rates at offices and hotels, leading to a spike in delinquencies on loans tied to them. The safer bet, bankers say, is lending on industrial properties.

Deutsche Bank is considering an unusual approach to providing relief to subprime mortgage borrowers as part of a $7.2 billion settlement with the U.S. government: lending money to private equity firms and hedge funds.

Donald Trump's election sent interest rates higher, and the mortgage industry is waiting to see what other effects he will have. Here's a look at how the housing market performed during the first years of recent presidencies.

National banks have experienced a dramatic drop in loan modification activity over the past year, according to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

The bank formerly run by Steven Mnuchin, President-elect Donald Trumps' nominee to head the Treasury Department, allegedly used illegal practices in foreclosing on delinquent homeowners, according to a leaked 2013 memo from the California Attorney General’s Office.

Late payments on securitized commercial mortgages climbed sharply in December to a 14-month high, led by office buildings.

United Shore Financial Services, a Troy, Mich.-based lender, has agreed to pay $48 million to settle allegations that it violated the False Claims Act.

Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse Group agreed to pay a combined $12.5 billion to resolve U.S. investigations into sales of the toxic debt that fueled the financial crisis, putting behind them a major dispute that undermined confidence in the banks and raised questions about their turnarounds.

Foreclosure starts increased nearly 7% in November from the previous month, but when compared to the previous year, they were down by over 9%, according to Black Knight Financial Services.

The distressed $149.4 million loan that backed UBS Group AG's giant trading-floor complex in Stamford, Conn., is up for sale, according to a person with knowledge of the offering.

Smaller companies that perform servicing are rapidly growing their loan portfolios — and not just in the default servicing space.

Two former executives of the failed GulfSouth Private Bank in Destin, Fla., and another man have been indicted on federal charges of defrauding the Troubled Asset Relief Program of $7.5 million.

Although Steven Mnuchin has close ties to Wall Street and was involved in some contentious deals, Democrats face an uphill battle making the case that those connections disqualify him to serve as Treasury secretary.

The largest month-over-month decrease in foreclosure filings since November 2010 occurred last month, according to Attom Data Solutions.

JPMorgan is returning to a familiar structure as it again pools large-market prime jumbo mortgages for investors in collateralized residential mortgage loans.

Fewer delinquencies are expected to accompany higher debt levels in 2017, TransUnion predicted.

SunTrust Bank failed a test related to the collection of default-related fees from consumers in the latest report regarding its compliance with the National Mortgage Settlement.

During the third quarter, the negative equity rate dropped to 10.9%, representing roughly 5.3 million homeowners, from 13.4% a year before, Zillow reported.