Mortgages

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.

Luxury home prices fell in the third quarter, while the rest of the housing market rose in price, Redfin said.

More consumers expressed worries about the housing market, as prospects for higher income remained suppressed, Fannie Mae said.

HLP, formerly known as Hope LoanPort, has selected CoreLogic executive Faith Schwartz as chair of its board of directors.

There are no easy fixes to Nationstar's myriad problems — including a plunging stock price and increased regulatory scrutiny — but Chief Executive Jay Bray says the turnaround starts with a commitment to improving customer service.

Over 20 mortgage and real estate-related trade groups are urging Congress to provide a hold harmless period till Feb. 1 for any errors regarding implementation of the integrated RESPA-TILA mortgage disclosures.

Legislative proposals to reform the housing finance system have failed to garner enough support, but a surprisingly simply reform idea is in plain sight: deeper private mortgage insurance coverage.

Issues with upgrading software and ensuring pricing accuracy to comply with the consumer bureau's "integrated disclosures" have been magnified in wholesale loan transactions.

The number of homes in negative equity continued to shrink, but overall levels of negative equity remain high and are holding back a full-scale housing market recovery, according to Zillow.

Hiring by nonbank mortgage lenders stalled in October after adding new employees to their payrolls for eight straight months.

Mortgage professional hiring and new job appointments for the week ending Dec. 4.

American Homes 4 Rent, the largest publicly traded U.S. single-family home landlord, agreed to acquire a smaller competitor, American Residential Properties, in a deal valued at $1.5 billion, including debt.

When news broke in October that New York's Stuyvesant Town was being sold, observers expected the $3 billion loan on the property to be paid off without a glitch.

Mortgage rates went down as Treasury yields fell on weak manufacturing data, according to the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey.

Add retail customers to the list of groups raising concerns about possible high-pressure product-sales tactics at Wells Fargo; many of them are considering jumping ship in response, according to a new survey of customer attitudes at big banks. However, Wells' rivals shouldn't celebrate — they are at risk of losing customers, too, for a variety of reasons.

Private real estate investors and community-based financial institutions have developed innovative ways to preserve affordable-housing units that were in danger of losing subsidies, according to a new report.

The availability of home loans for low credit score borrowers remains very tight by historical standards but there might be some loosening in 2016 if the Federal Reserve begins raising interest rates.

Mountain America Credit Union has partnered with Pavaso to implement a new digital collaborative closing process to provide a better experience to members applying for mortgages called QuickClose.

The commercial mortgage-backed securities delinquency rate improved by double-digit basis points in November, fulfilling Trepp's forecast for a large monthly improvement.

Mortgage applications dipped slightly during Thanksgiving week on lower refinance activity, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.