Mortgages

The ruble's 16-month slide has driven a jump in mortgage lending as Russians buy homes with mortgages in an effort to protect their dwindling savings.

Mortgage applications fell for the second consecutive week even as interest rates decreased to their lowest levels in the past year.

Capital One Financial has consolidated its commercial real estate lending units, in an attempt to further integrate Beech Street Capital, the multifamily mortgage firm it acquired last year.

Bridget Michelle Clark, the founder of Homeowners Mortgage Enterprises died on May 25 after a prolonged illness. She was 54 years old.

Debt on Willis Tower, formerly the tallest U.S. building, was put in special servicing after the borrower requested a loan modification, Fitch Ratings said.

Western Asset Management Co. is helping to resuscitate the market for mortgages not backed by the government.

National home price appreciation slowed for the fifth straight month in May, continuing a trend that's expected to continue into the summer selling season.

A reduction in mortgage rates has boosted Home Affordable Refinance Program refinancings, according to nonbank servicer Walter Investment Management Corp.

Delinquency rates for commercial and multifamily loans declined in the first quarter, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Carrington Mortgage Services launched a marketing portal to allow its brokers to close more loans in their respective markets.

Further lender-placed insurance reform is part of new Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mel Watt's strategic plan, likely shifting the balance between business and borrower interests back toward consumers.

Wells Fargo has stopped offering most customers the interest-only version of its home-equity line of credit.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were sued by Massachusetts for allegedly failing to comply with a state law that lets nonprofit organizations buy foreclosed homes to sell them back to their former homeowners.

Real Estate Settlement Procedure Act violations cited in a recent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau action suggest the technical compliance required rises in line with the aggressiveness of past or present marketing.

More than 40% of the 2 million recently modified mortgages facing interest-rate resets are underwater, according to Black Knight Financial Services data.

Lenders are doing a much better job closing the loan applications they are getting, and they are doing so in a shorter period of time. Tight credit has not increased the risk that a loan will fail to close.

Now that Congress has rolled back steep increases in flood insurance premiums, lawmakers and housing interests are on the Federal Emergency Management Agency's case to avoid another bungle.

The City of Los Angeles accused JPMorgan Chase of targeting minority borrowers with predatory loans in a lawsuit filed two days after Wells Fargo lost a court bid to dismiss a similar case.

As regulations reshape the reverse mortgage, lenders hope to end up with a safer, more reputable product. Meantime, the changes are turning the economics of this business on its head.

The city of Providence, R.I., has sued Santander Bank alleging that bank violated the Fair Housing Act by refusing to make prime mortgage loans available in minority communities.