Increased enthusiasm for automated valuations presents an opportunity for the appraisal industry to develop tools that combine high-efficiency, low-cost processes with the accuracy of human expertise.

SharperLending has registered its Appraisal Firewall software product as a lender agent with the Federal Housing Administration.

The demand for affordable rental properties has long outstripped the supply, with the gap widening as incomes have stagnated, homeownership rates have fallen and rents have soared in recent years. But now, banks are finding a profitable path to helping ease this severe national shortage.

WASHINGTON — JPMorgan Chase and EverBank were released from business restrictions stemming from the foreclosure reviews that originated in 2011, but also face new civil money penalties for their earlier violations of those restrictions, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said Tuesday.

As the mortgage industry begins the New Year, National Mortgage News takes a look at the biggest trends and topics that will shape 2016.

Tech-enabled shortcuts that borrowers might assume are harmless — or what loan officers, real estate agents and borrowers consider good customer service — may in fact lead to very risky, or even illegal, habits.

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 is important, but it barely scratches the surface of former House Financial Services Committee Chairman Michael Oxley's impact on banking.

U.S. judge rejects Quicken Loans' effort to move FHA loan case to Detroit courtroom.

Rather than relying on a formal marketing services agreement to get business, loan officers now have to prove that they can provide realty agents and consumers the best mortgage experience.

The Dodd-Frank Act is a burden on community banks and credit unions but regulators are struggling to quantify the costs, according to a report released Wednesday by the Government Accountability Office.

From the rollercoaster ride toward the TILA-RESPA implementation deadline to concerns about other areas the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau would zero in on for scrutiny, these seven stories dominated National Mortgage News during 2015. Following are both the stories and an update on where the situation stands now.

"The allegations of discrimination and predatory practices raised by the reporting are obviously very concerning to the bureau," a CFPB official said Tuesday.

What mortgage companies pay LOs, and how compensation plans are determined and structured, can give regulatory agencies more information about a company's priorities than lenders might think.

A proposal issued two weeks ago by the FHFA calls on the two government-sponsored enterprises to identify opportunities to increase their purchases of small multifamily properties in rural areas, sparking some concern among lenders.

After lenders and their technology providers spent much of 2015 implementing the TILA-RESPA integrated disclosures, forthcoming compliance audits and a government-sponsored enterprise plan to start collecting data from the new forms will tell if those efforts truly paid off.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency appears to be on course to decide next year whether Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should update their credit scoring models.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency is giving private mortgage insurers some hope this holiday season that they might get a chance to offer deeper mortgage insurance on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac single-family loans.

While marketing services agreements dominated the conversation around compliance in the latter half of 2015, loan officer compensation will be under more scrutiny during 2016.

Some mortgage investors are refusing to buy home loans that are at risk of violations of new consumer-disclosure rules. The problem appears to be worst among nonagency jumbo loans purchased by private investors.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has lowered the asset-size threshold to qualify for escrow exemptions for higher-priced mortgage loans.