A major hurdle for the mortgage industry in 2011 that may continue to pose a significant risk this year is ineffective quality control. Interthinx identified two defects in the outsourced quality control programs of lenders that affected residential mortgage loan files—missing documentation and inaccurate information.

President Obama's decision to create a new task force to investigate risky lending and securitization practices leading up to the financial crisis could complicate and delay a potential $25 billion settlement involving foreclosure and servicing abuses.

Citigroup recently told its mortgage correspondents that going forward it will only buy "low risk" loans. What's a low risk loan, you ask? Answer: any mortgage that has an almost zero chance of going south.

Many fondly recall their kindergarten years. The teachers had a supernatural power to transform children into students while also starting the learning process of basic life skills. Interestingly, many of these kindergarten lessons are just as important for financial services executives today, even more so for mortgage bankers going through tough times.

President Obama announced Tuesday night a plan to collect fees from large banks to help fund greater loan refinancings for underwater mortgagors.

Rumors abound that the Federal Reserve is planning a new round of 'quantitative easing' as early as this spring.

Alaska developer Lee Baker, Jr., known in Anchorage as "The Condo King," has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges that he lied on loan applications to Denali Alaskan Federal Credit Union.

There’s nothing quite like disaster to remind us of the importance of effective leadership. As the recent sea disaster off the coast of Italy illustrates, when the captain fails at risk management, tragedy can occur.

As owner of an appraisal company, I hear it all the time. "These conservative appraisers are killing my deals." I’m going to tell you a secret. No appraiser wants to kill transactions. In fact, for appraisers, the only thing worse than providing values that don’t support transaction amounts is losing their licenses or getting blacklisted by a lender.

Regulators and a Home Loan bank have asked First Horizon National Corp. for information about some of its securitizations.

The bureau of compliance and licensing for the Pennsylvania Department of Banking continued to reduce the amount of fraud taking place within the state during the fourth quarter last year.

Redwood Trust is starting to feel like the Maytag repairman of the jumbo MBS market: it sits all alone with no company.

One of the most surprising questions I get on a regular basis is "Why are you still talking about mortgage fraud? Hasn't it gone away now that property values are declining, lenders are requiring full documentation to support an application, and they are checking with the Internal Revenue Service to verify borrower income?" The short answer is: no.

The Fed's recent report on current conditions and policy considerations in the housing market points to barriers to recovery that have been persisting beyond its sphere of influence despite its stimulus efforts.

Not only has the housing meltdown affected state and local governments, servicers and investors, but homeowner associations too. These associations rely upon property taxes to pay for such services as utilities, trash pickup, snow removal, landscaping, and road and building maintenance, but vacancies have mitigated the number of improvements made in these communities.

Some AMCs are looking at the UAD as an opportunity to revisit quality control processes, updating them and streamlining them where possible. Those AMCs that are not taking advantage of this opportunity should be.

Yesterday news broke from HUD secretary Shaun Donovan that a robosigning deal was imminent. Today, we learn that maybe a deal isn't as close as Donovan portrayed. Then again, the 'State of the Union' address is next week and there is some talk that President Obama wants to mention the robo settlement using the speech as yet another opportunity to bash the mortgage banking industry.

Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan said the ongoing settlement talks between the federal government, state attorneys general, and the nation's largest servicers has produced a "package of programs that we believe will be very positive" for the housing market.

A New York probe has brought national attention to servicers' alleged self-dealing in the sale of force-placed insurance. But the investigation is just one of many looming challenges to the practice.

Mitt Romney has been a key figure in the saga of the nation's financial woes, perhaps more important than any other Republican politician. But much of what he did and said in the early stages of the crisis, including about housing, has been largely forgotten.