Mortgages

Sales of single-family homes and condos are on pace to reach an eight-year high this year, according to RealtyTrac's U.S. Home Sales Report for August.

Lenders that allow borrowers to shop for third-party settlement services face new liability, as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's integrated mortgage disclosure rules will let borrowers sue over problems with vendor lists.

Communication between homeowners and their servicers remains the most frequently reported challenge for housing counselors, the National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling program said.

Mortgage professional hiring and new job appointments for the week ending Sept. 25.

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

Officials signaled that Hudson City Savings Bank's nearly $33 million settlement over redlining charges is only the first in what is likely to be a string of other cases.

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

Mid America Mortgage will utilize document preparation and electronic signature and vaulting technology developed by DocMagic to facilitate paperless mortgage closings complete with e-signed promissory notes.

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.

Federal officials on Thursday ordered Hudson City Savings Bank to pay more than $27 million to resolve redlining allegations, the largest order of its kind and one that is likely to put larger banks on notice that redlining cases will be aggressively pursued.

Ocwen Financial Corp. announced that it will lay off approximately 300 residential servicing employees at its facility in Waterloo, Iowa.

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

Purchases of new homes jumped in August to a seven-year high as Americans took advantage of historically low mortgage rates.

MountainView Capital Holdings is offering up for bid an $80 million, servicing-released pool of performing and distressed mortgages, some of which the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. jointly owns.

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.

While banks have significantly decreased their problem assets from their 2010 peak, sour credits remain much higher than in 2006. A number of banks have been reluctant to sell these assets because of low interest rates and a struggle to find better investments.

A Fair Housing Act lawsuit allowed to stand against a lender degrees removed from the alleged injury is one example of how broadly defined discrimination laws will open an abyss of litigation.

Senior home equity rose by $117 billion in the second quarter, compared to the previous quarter, according to the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association.

From due diligence and portfolio analysis to strategies for compliance and raising capital, the rapidly-evolving market for buying and selling distressed mortgage assets has created both challenges and opportunities for investors, servicers and portfolio managers.