Mortgages

Bank of America this month will try to unload roughly $42 billion of mortgage servicing rights through two different offerings, one involving private label product, according to investors and investment bankers familiar with the bank's auction plans.

The Federal Housing Administration has made a last-minute attempt to soften new underwriting guidelines that penalized borrowers with ongoing credit disputes.

Hudson Valley Holding Corp. has completed the sale of $474 million in loans after it was required to reduce its concentrations in commercial real estate and classified loans.

A joint venture program between Mountain Real Estate Capital and Harridge Development recently expanded with the acquisition of a bank-owned residential infill site in Los Angeles.

WASHINGTON - Months after the Justice Department announced its biggest fair lending settlement in history, the banking industry continues to brace itself for the fallout from a renewed government focus on fairness.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a bulletin Monday clarifying on an interim basis how compensation rules apply to qualified profit sharing, 401(k) and employee stock ownership plans.

Recently I attended the 2012 NMLS Annual Conference in Scottsdale, Ariz., and learned that there are still many challenges out in the licensing corner of mortgage lending. It was a great opportunity to meet with state and federal regulators, compliance professionals, licensing specialists, lawyers, and experts in the industry.

The House Financial Services Committee has approved a bill to enhance the FHA's authority to police bad lenders after rejecting an amendment that would have reduced the agency's loan guarantees.

Everybody is familiar with the line from the movie "Jerry Maguire," the one that goes "Show me the money!"

DBRS has rated a rare prime residential private-label RMBS backed by recently originated portfolio of loans and Fitch Ratings has issued an unsolicited rating on the deal.

Only a single borrower is currently delinquent among the roughly 1,800 newly originated prime loans securitized in the handful of Sequoia/Redwood private-label residential mortgage-backed security deals seen since the start of 2010, according to a Fitch report Monday.

The Treasury Department is fighting back against critics of principal reduction who claim second lien holders will unfairly benefit from a reduction in the loan balances of underwater Fannie Mae/ Freddie Mac loans.

Residential servicers completed 20% fewer proprietary loan modifications in February than the month prior, according to new figures compiled by the Hope Now servicing alliance.

Recent Federal Housing Finance Agency efforts to interest buyers in the foreclosure-to-rent market may be off to a good start with an unlikely type of investor even though it still is everyone's guess whether this management strategy will effectively ease off inventory pressures and speed up the recovery.

Is there really much of a professional difference between loan officers who work for a bank versus a nonbank? I'm not picking sides, but recent comments to this column suggest that nonbank LOs feel they are better equipped to serve the consumer - and not necessarily because they have passed the state test.

Fannie Mae purchased $62 billion of mortgages from its seller/servicers in February, its weakest monthly acquisition volume in four months.

One of the biggest challenges for lenders trying to unload distressed real estate is to do so without pushing prices even lower. Foreclosed homes already sell at steep discounts-sometimes trailing market values by as much as 30 percent.

Pacific Union Financial LLC, Walnut Creek, Calif., has hired Rick W. Skogg as its new president.

Months after the Justice Department announced its biggest fair lending settlement in history, the banking industry continues to brace itself for the fallout from a renewed government focus on fairness.

The extension of regulatory responsibilities to nonbank residential mortgage lenders and originators for suspicious activity reports and anti-money laundering efforts is far reaching, according to a recent discussion of the move by attorneys.