Mortgages

HSBC Holdings defeated New York's lawsuit alleging its paperwork delays put property owners in foreclosure at an increased risk of losing their homes.

The mortgage application and closing process is once again facing an overhaul. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will soon require lenders to provide customers with integrated disclosure forms, which aim to clarify costs associated with real estate transactions. As with any new process, the switch poses a number of challenges for lenders — and could even put business at risk during implementation. Here are five pitfalls to look out for in the process.

Forcing lenders to fund upgrades for HUD through the proposed administrative fee would set a dangerous precedent, essentially taxing the very borrowers they are intending to serve.

The technology, still in its early development stages, will analyze Home Mortgage Disclosure Act files prior to formal submission to the regulator so lenders can spot and fix errors faster.

Clayton Holdings has acquired technology valuation provider Red Bell Real Estate and its sister company, Main Street Valuations.

Blackstone Group's latest sale of bonds backed by rental homes found robust demand from investors, particularly the riskiest portions of the offering, as the market prepares for a new breed of the securities.

Home equity lines of credit originations have increased 21.5% in 2014 from a year earlier, according to Equifax's National Consumer Credit Trends Report.

There is plenty of information available on the Internet so that mortgage firms can stop using the same old school approach to customer acquisition.

Independent mortgage banks and mortgage subsidiaries of banks saw their production profits rise in the fourth quarter compared to a year earlier, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

A CMBS backed by 76 mortgages that are in turn secured by 91 properties is coming to market, according to presales by Fitch Ratings and Kroll Bond Rating Agency.

Home prices in 20 U.S. cities appreciated at a faster pace in the year ended in January, indicating the residential real estate market continues to firm.

If lenders can't get the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to back off its Aug. 1 integrated mortgage disclosures deadline, they're at least hoping to get some leniency while they adjust to the new process.

Some nonbank issuers of mortgage-backed securities are wrestling with capital pressures, and Ginnie Mae has cooperated with their efforts to sell chunks of mortgage-servicing-revenue streams to investors.

The National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals has issued an industrywide call to improve access to affordable housing.

Bank of America is asking the Justices to overturn lower-court rulings that mortgage loans with a secondary lien on a debtor's asset can be "stripped down" to zero when the collateral is completely underwater. The decision could affect an even wider range of second liens.

Mel Watt, the former North Carolina lawmaker, has earned praised for his cautious approach to guiding the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. But critics say he is making it even more difficult to craft a system without them.

A Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae mortgage servicing rights portfolio with approximately $10 billion of unpaid principal balance is now on the market.

The federal government awarded the California Housing Finance Agency more than $450,000 to support a program that provides counseling to homeowners facing foreclosure.

More Americans than forecast signed contracts to purchase previously owned homes in February, indicating a pickup in the housing market ahead of the spring selling season.

Confusion about pre-approvals is rampant and has been the subject of vehement debate.