Underwriting

Rebecca Mairone scarcely deserves a mention in the annals of finance, except for this: She's the only executive of a major U.S. mortgage lender found liable for her part in the 2008 financial crisis.

A number of investment banks have been increasing the portion of high-quality loans backing commercial mortgage bonds.

With the implementation date for the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosures just days away, here's a look at some of the finishing touches the mortgage industry is making to its technology and training preparations.

Interest rates for mortgages decreased from July to August, according to the most recent data from the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

It's hard to decide which is more surprising: that the largest U.S. bank has almost abandoned the business of making home loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration, that lots of big banks could be right behind it, or that the FHA might not even need to care.

In this slowing economic recovery, the housing market is showing signs of resilience but still faces long-term challenges, according to a report from Stifel Nicolaus & Co.

Fifth Third's mortgage division has launched the Community Reinvestment Mortgage Special, a program designed to cover closing costs for mortgage customers buying or refinancing homes in low-income areas.

In the communities hardest hit by the housing crisis, some credit policy loosening will be needed to help the recovery, according to Pro Teck Valuation Services.

A recent uptick in mortgage application defects might be reversing, according to First American Financial.

Inclusionary housing policies can help reduce economic discrimination in neighborhoods that are gentrifying rapidly, according to a think tank's report.

Appraisers and appraisal management companies do important, and different, work. Their fees should be listed separately and transparently in the TILA-RESPA integrated disclosures.

The dovish decision from the Federal Reserve to not raise the federal funds rate caused mortgage interest rates to decline across the board, according to the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey.

The U.S. housing market continues to slowly stabilize, according to Freddie Mac's latest Multi-Indicator Market Index.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's method for detecting disparate impact discrimination can overestimate potential bias, resulting in higher payments for lenders cited by the agency, according to internal CFPB documents.

First-mortgage originations to subprime borrowers have risen by 30.5% in the first five months of 2015, compared to the same period last year.

Despite pledges last year to move “aggressively” to implement new credit scoring models at the government-sponsored enterprises, the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s effort appears to have stalled.

What's it going to take to boost annual issuance of private-label RMBS roughly tenfold to $100 billion-$150 billion?

Lenders are easing loan standards across all types of mortgage products, according to Fannie Mae's latest survey of mortgage lenders.

Wells Fargo is raising minimum credit score requirements on Federal Housing Administration loans, part of the ongoing jockeying by large banks to limit lawsuits by the Justice Department for defective FHA loans.

There is no universal definition of "TRID-ready," but any vendor claiming it's prepared for the new integrated disclosures should allow lenders to test the changes. Here's what to look for, and the red flags that should be cause for concern.