Underwriting

Two independent mortgage banks agreed to settlements in the past week with the Justice Department for failing to meet Federal Housing Administration guidelines. The cases are a warning to nonbank lenders that they need to beef up self-reporting of deficiencies, and they remind large banks about the legal risks associated with FHA lending.

Anticipation of rising interest rates has stirred more talk among mortgage lenders about the need to originate loans to borrowers with low credit scores.

Broadway Financial Corp. in Los Angeles has been released from an enforcement action requiring it to improve its corporate governance.

Jeff Patmont got his home loan on his phone. The 30-year-old marketing manager for a medical-device company said he did almost everything electronically for the mortgage on his home in the San Francisco Bay Area.

A plan by the government-sponsored enterprises to begin collecting the new Closing Disclosure data is designed to promote Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's loan quality goals. But the initiative may also prompt broader use of e-signatures and paperless processing.

Mortgage rates remained steady during the week ending Nov. 25, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey.

Commercial mortgages bundled into securities will keep seeing their underwriting standards deteriorate from this year into 2016, said JPMorgan analysts in a report Wednesday.

The percentage of mortgage applications with defects declined in October, according to First American Financial Corp.

Rising incomes and other affordability markers have tempered the impact of rising home prices in hot West Coast markets, according to Pro Teck Valuation Services.

There's been concern this year that commercial mortgage bonds are getting backed by loans that are increasingly risky.