In an interview, FHFA Director Mel Watt said there needs to be greater clarity to ensure some entities aren't taking improper advantage of Federal Home Loan Bank membership.

The outcome of Bruce Berkowitz's tussle with the U.S. government over the profits from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may depend on two women: federal claims court Judge Margaret Sweeney and Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

The Federal Housing Administration's new foreclosure relief options for nonborrowing spouses of reverse mortgage customers will increase loan servicers' costs, and some question how many consumers they will actually help.

Efforts by investors in the government-sponsored enterprises to find a more friendly court to challenge the government's management of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac fell flat in Iowa.

Standard & Poor's $1.5 billion settlement with the U.S. Justice Department, more than a dozen states and the biggest U.S. pension fund today will let the world's biggest rating company move beyond a bruising legal battle, at a steep cost.

President Obama's 2016 budget plan tackled a host of big picture items for mortgages, including Dodd-Frank reform, FHA lending and GSE reform.

The widespread return of the subprime mortgage business will be the big event for the mortgage industry in 2015.

Many ask whether there is any such thing as a “safe” marketing services agreement for mortgages. The answer, unequivocally, is yes.

McGraw Hill Financial Inc., the U.S. Justice Department and state attorneys general will announce a $1.4 billion settlement Tuesday over claims that Standard & Poor's inflated ratings on subprime mortgage bonds leading up to the 2008 financial crisis, according to two people with knowledge of the deal.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency will require nonbank mortgage firms to meet minimum liquidity and net worth standards to curb risks to taxpayers from the rapidly expanding industry.

The California Department of Business Oversight is accepting applications until Feb. 20 from firms or individuals with experience with the California Residential Mortgage Lending Act and California Homeowner Bill of Rights.

Two Republican legislators have suggested that affordable housing funding should be put on hold until Congress finally decides what to do about Fannie and Freddie. But why give Congress another six years to fiddle around with housing finance while the poor and homeless face a declining level of government housing assistance?

In yet another revision of its mortgage rules, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau proposed making it easier for small and rural lenders to make "qualified mortgages." Industry representatives said the changes are poised to make a big difference.

The Federal Housing Administration will make foreclosure protections available to a larger number of surviving spouses of deceased reverse mortgage borrowers.

The Treasury Department has exceeded its authority by keeping Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in conservatorship so long and taking all their profits, two legislative experts said Thursday.

Banks have made progress cutting their exposure to risky home equity lines of credit, ahead of a key 10-year threshold when billions of dollars of them will reset to higher monthly payments. But there are some prominent exceptions, especially among regional banks.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Thursday proposed a series of regulatory relief measures for small institutions, especially those in rural areas, to help them provide credit while they try to follow the agency's tough mortgage rules.

Regulatory attention is supposed to be laser-focused on servicers right now, especially when it comes to how consistent they are in applying workouts. So regulators should be looking closely at whether loans have forbearance.

A judge rejected a bid by the U.S. to put on hold a series of suits by Fairholme Funds and other investors challenging the diversion of profits from Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae to the Treasury.

Before the Dodd Frank Act went into effect in 2010, the residential mortgage market was in an entirely different state — particularly in regards to servicing. Several large servicers dominated the market, but ultimately shed most of their servicing assets, creating a substantially large segment of midsize servicers.