Underwriting

Mortgage-focused real estate investment trusts, including those affiliated with Western Asset Management and Pine River Capital Management, are backing loans to Americans who don't meet banks' requirements.

Commercial mortgage-backed security performance could come under further strain this year, as the underwriting on the underlying commercial mortgages continues to loosen. Here are eight indicators to consider in sizing up the CMBS market this year.

Ares Management LP won a $700 million commitment to invest in U.S. commercial real estate for a life insurance client.

While put-backs and litigation risk are widely recognized as factors that have contributed to tight credit conditions, another factor — high servicing costs for nonperforming loans — is being overlooked.

As banks look to cuts costs and improve efficiency, many are actively trying to reduce the number of times they "touch" a loan file. The goal: get the application right the first time so it doesn't have to be sent back to the underwriter for time-consuming and costly fixes.

Lenders and homebuyers should not expect further reductions in Federal Housing Administration's mortgage insurance premiums this year, according to Housing and Urban Development secretary Julian Castro.

Fears that lower Federal Housing Administration premiums will negatively affect private mortgage insurance firms are overblown. If anything, the plan should be a modest positive for the overall housing market.

Paying attention to detail is important in the mortgage industry but being a control freak could damage your productivity.

Lenders need to use nontraditional means of measuring a borrower's likelihood of default.

The Multifamily Lenders Council, a trade group representing companies that originate and service Federal Housing Administration-insured multifamily mortgages, states President Obama isn't doing enough to assist affordable rental housing.

MGIC Investment Corp. said on Friday that its delinquent inventory dropped slightly in December compared to a month earlier.

With commercial real estate lenders continuing to slowly relax their underwriting standards, CMBS investors can't overlook the corresponding rise in risk.

The price of loans securing commercial mortgage-backed securities increased in November, according to DebtX.

Lenda, a new mortgage company backed by Silicon Valley investors, wants to supplant the traditional loan officer with consumer self-service technology.

Mortgage credit availability loosened in December, according to a report from the Mortgage Bankers Association.

President Obama is expected to announce a half-percentage-point reduction in the Federal Housing Administration's annual premium during a housing policy speech Thursday in Phoenix.

The diversity of the U.S. population is at a tipping point and originators need to prepare to serve the needs of this growing pool of customers.

Mortgage denials in 2013 were comparable to those recorded a decade ago, analyses of HMDA data show, challenging perceptions about how easy lending really was during the era of "pulse" loans and "fog-a-mirror finance."

With Republicans now controlling both chambers of Congress and signals from Democrats that they are open to alterations, revisions to Dodd-Frank are at the top of the agenda in addition to other subjects, like terrorism insurance and housing finance reform.

Will you make changes to the way you do business to get what you want, or have you grown complacent with what you have?